


The Trouble With Falling

by dragonchallenge



Category: The Mummy (1999)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Character Death, Disapproving Family, F/M, First Love, Forbidden Love, Heartbreak, Long-Distance Relationship, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 49,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonchallenge/pseuds/dragonchallenge
Summary: Renata Adams was eighteen-years-old when she met the mysterious Ardeth Bay. The pair became fast friends and later, something more. Ren was always positive that Ardeth was the one until one day he wasn't. When Ren crosses paths with Ardeth unexpectedly on a mission to discover Hamunaptra, her feelings for him return, as hard as she tries to resist. With a newfound danger in her life and her first love fighting to earn her heart again, Ren realizes that a mummy returned from the dead is the least of her worries.
Relationships: Ardeth Bay/Original Female Character(s), Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter One

Cairo, Egypt - 1918

The sun peeking over the horizon was my indication that it was time to get moving. I would be getting a wake-up call any moment now anyway. I ran my brush through my hair and gave myself a once-over in the mirror. My clothes were nothing special; simple beige trousers and a white tunic. It would be all the easier for whatever I chose to do later this afternoon. I smiled to myself as I left my room, shutting the door behind me, and headed downstairs to the welcoming smell of breakfast. My parents must have come home earlier than I'd been expecting.

Both my mother and father were at the base of the stairs. My mother was cooking a full spread as my father read the newspapers I had been keeping for him for the past few days. "Welcome home," I greeted them as I hit the landing.

"Ren!" my mother greeted, looking up from the pan. She grinned broadly as she left the eggs and met me in a hug halfway through the living room. "Good morning, love. We didn't want to wake you."

"You know you always can. I love hearing about your adventures," I replied.

"Well, this wasn't that kind of adventure," my mother responded. I smiled at her. There was a good reason I hadn't come with them on this last trip. "Oh, one day you'll have stories of your own."

"Darling," my father greeted, coming to hug me.

"Hi, Dad," I greeted, pulling out of his hug. "Have a good trip?"

"Wonderful, sweetheart."

"Bring me back anything?" I teased.

My mother smiled as she walked up to my other side. "You're funny," she said, flicking me gently on the nose.

I giggled quietly, moving away from them. "Gotten in any good trouble lately?" my father asked.

"No more than I'm sure the two of you have," I teased. They were the ones who had just gone to see one of my least favorite relatives. "How is Aunt Sylvia?"

My parents would normally have been away on a dig, but this time they had gone to visit my Aunt Sylvia (my mother's sister) back in the United States, where my family and I were originally from. Aunt Sylvia was one of many family members we had left behind when we'd come to live in Cairo. She was a prejudiced and nasty woman whom I had always refused to see unless I was forced by the rest of my family. Aunt Sylvia couldn't stand that my parents were raising me in Egypt and seemed determined that I would never find a real husband in a Middle-Eastern country.

Aunt Sylvia was one of those kinds of people who thought that all women were good for was getting married and having children; that was the way she had been raised. It was something I had never been interested in and it didn't matter either way - I was far too young for thoughts like that. I was only eighteen, barely an adult, but Aunt Sylvia didn't want to hear about schooling or my future career. She only wanted to hear about dates I had gone on or insult me for spending any time with the native Egyptians.

My parents had spent weeks trying to convince me to go back to the United States with them, using everything from money to an offer to bring me on their next real trip as a bargaining chip. Nothing had worked. I'd continued to refuse, claiming that someone needed to stay behind and mind the house. It had actually been half to avoid Aunt Sylvia and half because I simply preferred being in Egypt. My parents knew me well enough to know the truth of why I wanted to stay behind, but had ultimately decided to save themselves the argument and let me stay in Cairo.

"She's still furious we're raising you in Egypt," my mother said. I chuckled under my breath. Aunt Sylvia had thrown the biggest fit of any of my family members when my parents had told her that they would be raising me in Egypt. "I'd like to not repeat everything she said."

"Sounds like Aunt Sylvia," I said, rolling my eyes as I poured myself a mug of coffee. "You could have told her that I'm not being raised anymore. I'm eighteen."

"You'll always be our daughter and that means raising you until we die," my father pointed out. "There's always more that we want you to learn."

"That's nice. But you mean like being on a dig, right?" I asked, raising my eyebrows playfully.

My father shook his head. "Ren, not this again."

"You've been on digs before," my mother countered.

That was true but those also weren't the digs that I wanted to be on. "The only digs you've brought me on were the little ones that have already been mostly uncovered by you or someone else on your team. You only bring me when you're sure it's going to be safe," I huffed.

"How strange that we would want to bring you on a dig where you'll be safe?" my mother responded tonelessly.

"But I want to come on a real one with you," I said.

Both of my parents shook their heads. "We knew this day would come," my father told my mother.

She waved him off. "Please, she's been complaining about us not bringing her along for years."

If there was anyone who had earned the chance to come on a real dig, it was me. "Come on! You're incredible archaeologists and are always talking about how important it is to make your mark on the world," I told them. They still didn't look convinced. "You both know how hard it is for a woman to make anything of herself unless she's the mother of some wonderful man. But if I got the chance to come along on a dig -"

"Ren, honey, you've made your point," my father said, cutting off my rant.

"Did I?" I asked sharply.

"You did," my father said.

Judging by the looks on their faces, I assumed I hadn't. They didn't want to put me in the slightest bit of danger. "Come on. Haven't I proven myself each time you've brought me along?" I asked, continuing without giving them a chance to respond. "I listen and respectfully provide my input on each trip! I'm fluent in Arabic -"

"We made you learn Arabic," my mother interrupted.

"My Ancient Egyptian isn't great but I can hold my own!" I continued.

"Honey -"

"And you know I can handle myself," I interrupted my father, grinning at him.

Both of my parents knew I was capable of defending myself from whatever danger we could potentially come across on a dig. "That doesn't make me feel better," my mother snapped, narrowing her eyes at me.

"It should," I mumbled. Neither of my parents looked impressed. "Come on, you guys! I've been begging you to bring me on a real dig for years."

"And you've had many good arguments. You've shown us that you would be responsible on a real dig," my father admitted.

"Is that a 'yes?'" I asked happily.

"That's a 'we'll talk about it,'" my father said.

It was all I could hope for. "I'll take it. For now," I teased.

"I promise we'll talk about it again soon," my mother said, brushing my hair back.

That wasn't good enough, though. They were going to take me on one of their digs. I just had to bide my time and wait for the opportune moment. "Hmm... Okay," I hummed.

"And you, love? Done anything interesting while we were gone?" my mother asked.

"No," I said quickly.

My mother nodded blankly as my father slipped behind me on his way to the kitchen. "Liar," he whispered.

"Shut up!" I hissed back at him.

While my mother was still in complete darkness about my favorite pastime, my father had discovered it a few years back. I had been in the middle of a near-sprint away from the guards in Cairo and had run directly past him. We'd stopped for a brief moment to stare at each other before I had been forced to take off again. During our talk about it later, my father had promised to keep my comings and goings a secret from my mother as it wasn't that dangerous and I had always been good about not getting caught. Plus, it was almost like a game for everyone involved.

We were quiet for a while, wandering around and getting ready for the day before my mother broke the peaceful silence. "What about your date with the British Minister's son?"

Damn. I'd been hoping she would forget that. "What date?" I asked flippantly.

Of course, I knew perfectly well what date she meant. Judging by the scowl on my mother's face, she also knew that I knew what she was talking about. My father was laughing from his spot in the living room. He had liked my potential date about as much as I had. My mother had set me up with the son of a British Minister after meeting him at a ceremony honoring my parents last week. But the son was pompous and arrogant, believing I was only a pretty face. My mother had set us up without asking me and I had conveniently 'forgotten' about it while they were gone.

While my parents weren't on top of me to get married or give them grandchildren, that didn't mean they never slipped up. My mother was constantly pointing out the attractive men that wandered Cairo and my father subconsciously looked at the children who ran through the market with loving stares. I knew they wanted grandchildren, but I wasn't there yet. I hadn't even gotten the chance to have my own life yet. I was still planning on being a successful archaeologist and eventually breaking away from my parents' fame.

On the other end of the room, my mother was rolling her eyes at me. "Ren, honestly, you couldn't have gone with him for an hour?"

"No," I said plainly.

"Ren!" my mother barked.

"Seriously! You liked him?" I asked disbelievingly.

She laughed. "I like any boy brave enough to take you out."

"I don't," my father said.

"But you want grandchildren," I replied.

"You can adopt."

Both my mother and I laughed as my father scowled down at the newspaper. He wanted grandchildren, but didn't want me to do what was required to have children. "Honestly, both of you," I huffed, looking between my parents. "I can barely keep myself in one piece. I don't need to add a baby to that."

My father left his spot in the living room and wandered back to me, placing his hand down on my shoulder. "Not yet, but I'd really like a grandchild before I die, Ren," he said.

"We'll talk about it in a decade," I replied. There was no way I was having a child anytime soon. I didn't even have the prospect of someone to marry. My father sighed, rolling his eyes as he walked off. "I'm only eighteen, Mom. I have time. I promise you, I'm not in danger of being labeled a spinster for at least another five years."

My mother waved me off carelessly. "Oh, I know. I'd just like to get your aunt to leave it alone."

"So, tell her to -"

"Ren!" my father yelled, cutting me off.

"I was just going to say to mind her damn business," I said, holding my hands up in surrender.

"That wasn't better," my mother said, scowling at me.

"Than what I was initially planning on saying? Sure, it was," I said.

"Ren!" my mother scolded. "I don't know where you get that language from."

I exchanged a grin with my father. "You," we said together through coughs.

My mother whipped around and scowled at us as we both laughed. She would never admit it, but she had worse language than we did. "To hell with you both, then," my mother said, wandering back into the kitchen.

Naturally, the laughter only grew louder at that point. My mother grumbled to herself as she continued cooking breakfast for everyone. In the meantime, I walked over to take a seat on the couch with my father. My mother was well into breakfast preparation, but it would still take a while, so she handed me a piece of toast to tide me over. I curled up on the couch with my father, stealing the newspaper from him and instead, asking him to tell me stories of their latest dig, which I knew Aunt Sylvia couldn't have cared less about and would refuse to listen to.

Martha and William Adams - my beloved parents - had met while they had both been studying Ancient Egyptology at Brown University. While most men had completely ignored Martha in their classes, William had always enjoyed her company. They had spent most of their time studying and eating together. They had graduated at the same time and ultimately traveled the world after their graduation. It had been on a dig in Luxor attempting to locate King Tutankhamen's Tomb that they had fallen in love - and gained immense notoriety in the archaeological community.

It had become a passion that they'd dedicated their lives to, as had so many other archeologists. They had continued attempting to locate King Tutankhamen's Tomb for months afterward with no avail. Then, it was just three years later that they were married, with me on the way. The archaeological community and their extended family had thought my parents would return to the United States to raise me. For a while, they were correct. My parents had returned to Rhode Island for at least a year to try and teach at Brown University.

They had successfully taught at Brown for three years (they were both ancient history professors), but my parents had always been desperate to return to Egypt and get back to their search for King Tutankhamen's Tomb. They had been so close the first time, after all. So, after months of going back and forth, they had left me with Aunt Sylvia for a few months to return to Egypt and continue on their path to discovering King Tutankhamen's Tomb. While they hadn't found King Tutankhamen's Tomb, they had found something else entirely.

They hadn't been credited with finding the one tomb everyone in Egypt were searching for, but they had made their names elsewhere. The Tomb of Akhethetep was a tomb complex that was built and completed in Saqqarah, Giza, Egypt. It was the tomb of Akhethotep, a royal official, located near the western part of the Step Pyramid in Saqqara. Akhethotep and his son Ptahhotep Tjefi, grandson of Ptahhotep, were senior court officials during the rules of Djedkare and Unas, towards the end of the fifth dynasty. It wasn't what they were looking for, but it was a wondrous discovery all the same.

Though it wasn't King Tutankhamen's Tomb, the discovery had only increased calls for my parents to return to Egypt and return to their earlier work as archaeologists. At that point, they had no longer been able to deny wanting to live in Egypt. Despite the pleas from the rest of my family for my parents to stay in the United States or at least leave me somewhere 'civilized' my parents had denied the offers. With me only five-years-old, my parents had packed up and moved to Cairo permanently, this time with me in tow.

As I was only five when I had moved to Cairo, I was left with very few memories of my life in the United States. I just remembered a few Fourth of July firework celebrations and a few New Year's Eve parties. I didn't mind, though. I had always loved living in Egypt. It had been a wonderfully different life. I got to be homeschooled and had free reign to wander the marketplace whenever I liked. My parents had trusted me to do whatever I wanted in the city since I was fourteen. I had met lots of interesting people and I got the chance to be something different here.

Much like the States, there were still sexist thoughts on what a woman could and couldn't be. I heard them all the time from the men around Cairo. But I also didn't have people telling me that I could never be an archaeologist. The ones who told me that were the people who came in from the United States and England. The ones who were still faced with the old-school prejudices. Things were slower in Cairo. There seemed to be more time to have our own lives before being forced to have children. We got some time to be our own person before being expected to care for another.

As I had only recently become an adult, I had gotten to spend the majority of my life only worried about what I loved. My parents occasionally pushed me to go on dates but they hadn't yet started forcing marriage or children. Instead, I had grown up on digs around Egypt, but only once they had been determined to be safe. My parents had almost always gone to the digs first and later called one of their assistants to bring me to the dig site. I was furious that I had never been allowed to come to unearth the tombs with my parents. That was what I had been working toward.

What would genuinely be incredible would be if my parents had allowed me to come along with them each time they thought they were getting close to discovering King Tutankhamen's final resting place. Of course, they were mostly misses. With so many companies looking for the tomb, it was only a matter of time until someone discovered it. My parents' main goal over the last few years had been finding King Tutankhamen's Tomb before anyone else could, but they had also brought me on plenty of smaller digs over the years.

The most recent dig my parents had taken me along on had been just two months ago. The latest dig we had gone on wasn't one in Egypt, which was rather odd for us, but we also hadn't had any leads on Tutankhamen's Tomb lately. So, we had decided to instead travel for nearly two weeks toward the south end of Africa and into Namibia. It was my first visit to the country and after having been once I hoped it wouldn't be my last. My parents had been called in for their assistance as the painting we were looking at appeared to be of Egyptian creation.

It was an interesting discovery that neither my parents nor I had been expecting. It wasn't a tomb or a mummy or anything I would have normally been interested in. It was a painting. The White Lady, as it had been dubbed, was a rock painting, located on a panel on a small rock overhang, deep within Brandberg Mountain. The giant granite monolith was located in Damaraland and called The Brandberg was Namibia's highest mountain. After a few days of exploring it, the painting had been accepted to be a bushmen painting, dated back at least two thousand years ago.

The White Lady archaeological site was located close to the road from Khorixas to Hentie's Bay, in the area of Uis. The Brandberg itself hosted over a thousand bushmen paintings, scattered around in rock shelters and caves. The White Lady Group had been found in a cave known as Maack Shelter and portrayed several human figures as well as oryxes on a rock panel. The White Lady was the most detailed human figure in the group. To reach The White Lady we had been forced to hike for nearly an hour over rough terrain, along the gorge of the dry Tsisab River.

My parents had gone along with most of the others on the archaeological dig in assuming that the painting showed some sort of ritual dance and that the White Lady was a shaman. She has white legs and arms, which they believed suggested that her body was painted or that she was wearing some sort of decorative attachments on her legs and arms. She was holding a bow in one hand and perhaps a goblet in the other. Because of the bow and the oryxes, the painting had also been interpreted as a hunting scene.

Apart from the shaman or lady, the other human figures had less detail and were mostly completely black or completely white. Only one of the oryxes had human legs. Some of the archaeologists had determined that the painting was probably made of ochre, charcoal, manganese, hematite, with blood serum, egg white and casein used as binding agents.

It was a simple discovery that my parents had helped make but it was also something I loved. I had gotten a copy of the painting for my birthday just a few weeks ago from a local artisan and had pinned it to my wall in Cairo. It was very pretty, but not quite as fascinating as the gold and treasure-filled tombs of Egypt. Of course, it also wasn't nearly as dangerous. Cave paintings were one thing, but the Ancient Egyptians were well-known for their sometimes fatal booby traps, exactly why I had rarely been allowed on my parents' excavations.

But it was coming soon. It had to be. In the meantime, I had to distract myself. "So, what did dear old Aunt Sylvia have to say?" I asked curiously.

My mother's eyes rolled so far back into her head I thought they would get stuck there. "Same things as always," she answered. "She thinks we're insane for bringing you up in Egypt, she hates the idea of us letting you run around an 'uncivilized' place like this, and she's concerned you don't even have a prospect of a man."

A little bristle of indignation shot through me. "I could get one if I wanted," I growled.

"We know that darling," my father said, resting a hand on my knee. "Trust us, we do."

"Well, Ren, if you didn't go on a date with the Minister's son, what did you do?" my mother asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual," I said flippantly.

A normal woman my age would have been in her last year of mandatory schooling back in the United States, but I had been raised in an extremely different situation. I had been homeschooled by my parents until I was sixteen. There was no way I could have gone into Egypt's public schools. The major problem had been that I wasn't fluent in Arabic when I should have begun schooling. So, my parents had always left me with either one or the other or someone they had trusted while they'd gone on digs and then I had been taught by my babysitter.

It raised some problems now. It meant that I had never had any formal education, though I had always considered myself one of the brightest people I knew. I simply hadn't been allowed into regular schools because of my background. By the time I had become fluent in Arabic as a young teenager it had been far too late for me to enroll in school. So, my parents had agreed to teach me everything they knew. I had long considered going to college now that I was of age - Brown, just like my parents - but I technically had no high school diploma. Therefore, no entry to college.

It had initially broken my heart, but it had also made her more determined to make my mark on the world. I was not put on this planet to be some man's baby-maker or home-maker. I knew I would make something of myself and the only thing I loved right now was the same thing my parents loved. I loved making discoveries. I loved finding out what the world was like long before anyone was able to properly record it. I had determined that I would be a famous archaeologist. As proud as my parents were, I knew they didn't always like my preference for dead people.

They had always wanted me to make friends, something I wasn't known for. I liked people but I wasn't known to make lasting friendships. I loved the merchants in the marketplace (who would never admit they liked me) and Terrence Bey (who would never dare admit he felt anything more for me than unbridled hatred), but that was about it. It wasn't for a lack of trying. I had always tried to play with the children in the neighborhood when I was young, but they had wanted nothing to do with me. I wanted friends, but no one had liked a blue-eyed, blonde-haired American.

When I was a kid, it had made all the difference in the world to the other children. I had looked so immensely different than them and they weren't inclined to be friendly with me. It meant that I had been subjected to only interact with people my parents had picked out for me as they hadn't wanted my interactions to be limited to just themselves. My parents' friends and allies along with the people my parents would have liked to set me up with were the ones I'd been forced to spend a lot of time with growing up. But those were the people I most disliked though.

It wasn't all unsuccessful, though. Over my years in Cairo, I had made some friends. I liked most of the men on the guard and I did like Terrence Bey (though he appeared to hate me and would probably always act that way). I did like the occasional English and American tourist that came to visit Cairo, especially since I had something in common with them. I enjoyed the men and women who ran the merchant stands and restaurants in town. There were plenty of people I had a good time with. I just wished there were more people my age I could get along with.

As much as I didn't love my personal experiences in Egypt, I did love the atmosphere here. There was no place on Earth like Cairo. I loved the people (most of them, at least), I loved the rich history, and I loved being somewhere that everyone at least had the chance to make something of themselves. I was going to get the chance to make something of myself that wasn't just a typical woman's work.

But speak of the Devil and it shall appear. "Ren," my mother called, startling me from my thoughts. "Where is the cumin?"

"Oh, I used the rest of it in a stew the other night," I answered.

"A stew?" she replied. "You can't cook."

"Okay, my attempt to make a stew," I said.

"And you didn't burn the house down?" my father asked from the other end of the couch.

"An improvement!" I said jokingly.

My mother walked up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Honey, an improvement would be not getting food poisoning from your dinner, not avoiding burning down the house. That would be a miracle."

"You're hilarious," I deadpanned.

"Did you eat any of it?" my mother asked.

"Hell no. I'm not that stupid," I said.

They both laughed as I shook my head. The stew hadn't looked right once I'd finished it and I had decided to go the safe route, dumping it down the drain and instead, going eat out. "Well, as payment for eating my last bottle of cumin you can go to the market and get me a new one," my mother said, giving me a look that said she was expecting no argument.

But that wasn't what I'd been planning on doing today. "Oh, but I wanted to go to the -" I stopped talking as the nasty glare settled over my mother's features. "The marketplace, of course. Yeah. Okay, I'll be back in a bit."

"To the marketplace and back!" my mother yelled after me.

They both knew my penchant for getting into trouble. I turned back and grinned at her. "Where else would I go?"

My father walked up behind me and lowered his voice. "Should I tell her?"

"Quiet!" I hissed.

"Be back before dinner!" my mother yelled from the kitchen.

"I will!" I called back.

The marketplace was one of the places I loved the most in Cairo, but I had initially been planning on spending most of my day at the Museum of Antiquities. That was my favorite location in Cairo. Since I was a little kid and my parents had brought me there for the first time, I had loved wandering around the museum for fun. I also enjoyed getting the chance to bother Terrence Bey. That would just have to wait until tomorrow. I gave my parents a final smile and nodded, turning and heading toward the marketplace. It was just a few minutes from my house as we lived close to the center of Cairo.

It was a lovely day outside today. There was a slight chill in the air with a little bit of warmth from the sun that was beating down on my back. My favorite kind of weather. I smiled up at the cloudless sky as I wandered into the edge of the marketplace. I knew I was supposed to go straight to the spice stand and get my mother another bottle of cumin (as I had used far too much for my cooking) but there was something else I needed. It was time for me to get some new clothes. Or at least look for some that I would come back for later.

My feet carried me toward one of the first stands in the marketplace. It was the clothing vendor that I had gotten most of my clothes from since moving to Cairo. I pawed through the messy stacks of clothing for a while and looked up to smile at Mara, the woman who owned the stand. She was the one who usually tried to get me to buy something other than the loose tunics and beige pants I normally wore. Besides my parents, Mara was probably the person who would have most liked to see me find myself a man. 

"Please stop looking at the tunics, Ren," Mara said after a few minutes.

"Why?" I asked, holding a black tunic up. "They're practical."

"They're made for men," Mara said.

"Exactly," I agreed.

It meant that they were easier to move around in, especially when I was wandering dig sites. Mara let out a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What if I give you a dress? Or a skirt? I'll take either at this point."

"Tempting," I replied.

"Anything, Ren. How can you ever expect to attract a man looking like one of them?" Mara asked.

Now that's uncalled for. I looked down at myself with a vague frown. I had never considered myself the most attractive person in the world but I wasn't hopeless. I considered myself reasonably pretty and different from anyone else in Cairo. I stood out against the natives, which was likely why I sometimes drew men's eyes. And I certainly didn't look like a man! Not only did I usually wear my long hair down but I had also inherited my mother's curves. I pulled the neckline of my men's tunic down slightly at Mara's words, making the older woman smile.

"Tell you what. I'm going to come back tomorrow and replace my tunics and trousers," I said. Mara let out a disappointed groan. "Let me finish! In return for being a wonderful friend and tailoring them for free..." I grinned at Mara who scowled back at me. "You can dress me in whatever you like."

That piqued Mara's interest. "Anything I like?"

I sighed, knowing I would regret my words. "Anything."

Mara grinned. "I'll take that deal. No backing out!"

I laughed. "See you tomorrow, Mara."

"Goodbye, Ren," Mara called.

It was a promise that I was sure to live to regret. Mara would put me in the frilliest dress she had. As I wandered deeper into the marketplace I headed toward the spice stand that was almost on the other end of the marketplace. I was forced through the overflowing crowds in the narrow streets. The marketplace was more crowded than it usually was. I figured it was because of the recent influx of tourists. People from all over the world were trying to enjoy the slightly cooler weather before the summer heat kicked in.

The marketplace was always fun to walk through - the noises and smells and different languages that permeated the warm air. I wandered a little further into the marketplace and looked back and forth, wondering if any opportunity was going to present itself to me. It had been a while since the last time I'd gotten to have my favorite kind of fun. That time must have been the reason so many merchants looked nervous to see me. Not that I minded. As I walked past one of the jewel merchants, I looked down at a beautiful bracelet with rubies engraved in them.

I was holding the bracelet up to my wrist when I heard a voice. "Are you planning on paying for that, Miss Adams?" Abdal, the owner of the jewel stand asked me suspiciously.

I smirked in response. "When have you ever known me to leave without paying for something?"

"Nothing from me," Abdal responded.

He was right. I didn't steal material objects. "Exactly. So, nothing to worry about," I told him happily.

"For now," Abdal huffed.

"What's that supposed to mean, Abdal? Aren't you happy to see me?" I teased.

"Never, Miss Adams," Abdal said.

I smiled at him as I picked up a blue gemstone that would look nice in one of my older necklaces. I could see Abdal scowling at me from the other end of the stand and I turned back to him with a little grin, making it very obvious that I was placing the stone back down and not stealing it. Abdal scowled at me again as he motioned for me to leave his stand. I laughed as I waved at him and walked off. All of the merchants in the marketplace knew me and liked to tease me about my pastime, but they all knew I would always refund them.

The last thing I wanted to do was make their lives any harder. As much as I teased them and they did the same to me, I cared about them and their well-being. I wandered back toward the spice stand at the back of the marketplace. I was hoping for a little more action today, but it appeared that there wouldn't be any. I noticed that some children were wandering around who looked like they might have been from the local orphanage, but it looked like they weren't in the mood to buy anything. Most of them just liked to come here and look around.

Just as I was about to give up on seeing anything amusing, buy my bottle of cumin and head back to my house, I spotted a young orphaned boy in the corner of the marketplace. My eyebrows arched curiously as I moved through the stands. The little boy was in the middle of the heaviest traveled section of the marketplace - the food. I smiled. He was a smart kid. It was easier to take things from the busier sections. Unfortunately, he wasn't as fast as he was intelligent. He was currently being berated by one of the merchants for trying to steal a loaf of bread.

It was Kareem, the owner of the bakery. He was an older man and didn't have the best sense of humor. "Urchin!" Kareem snarled nastily. "Find someone else to steal from, boy."

Kareem whacked the little boy over the back of the head which, to be fair, was getting off light for attempting to steal from someone. I scowled at Kareem, who I had never been that fond of. He was one of the few merchants I actively tried avoiding stealing from or getting involved with. But I was going to have to make an exception for the day. After all, moments like these were why I did what I did. I walked a little closer to the stand and met the defeated boy's eyes. He stared at me as I smiled and nodded for the boy to come closer.

I spoke in Arabic as I was unsure if the boy spoke English. "Are you hungry?" I asked. The boy stared at me, hesitating nervously for a moment. "It's okay, I'm here to help."

"Yes," he admitted.

"Follow me. And pay attention," I told him.

"What are you -?"

"Hush," I interrupted his questions. "Come along."

If he wanted to learn to keep himself fed he would also need to learn to be quiet when the time was right. I motioned for the boy to stay back a few paces but to follow me as I wound my way back through the marketplace. There was no way we could steal from Kareem. He was nasty and would likely order the boy's hands to be taken if he saw him trying to steal another loaf of bread. I walked back toward the fruit stand instead as the owner - a middle-aged man named Zahid - liked me and usually trusted that I would pay for whatever I took.

"Stay back," I whispered to the boy. I switched back to English for Zahid to keep the suspicion at bay. "Good morning, Zahid."

"Ren," Zahid said in greeting. "Did your parents have a safe trip home?"

"They did. I'll give them your regards."

Zahid watched me intently for a moment as he nodded. "Can we be expecting any trouble today?"

I smiled at him. "Trouble? When have you ever known me to cause trouble?"

"Since the day I met you, Miss Adams," Zahid said.

That was a fair enough statement. I smiled at Zahid as I slipped my sleeve down just past the end of my fingertips on my right arm. I had always been good at sleight of hand tricks. It was something I had learned from a young age while watching the magicians and pickpockets in the marketplace. It had been fun to watch and was even more fun to practice. I wandered toward the end of the table where I spotted a bundle of figs. They were my favorite and it wouldn't be surprising to see me eating them. To the right of the figs were a few apples. I grinned. Perfect.

"Don't be cynical, Zahid. I just wanted to look," I teased. We smiled at each other as I took the bundle of figs obviously in my left hand. "The figs look good this time of year."

"We got a good crop in. Usually, we don't see them like this unless it's summertime," Zahid said.

"Good to see. I'll have to come back with my mother. She'll love these," I said honestly.

"She always has liked the figs. What about the prickly pears?" Zahid asked.

"Where?" I asked.

Zahid turned and walked to the left to grab the ripe-looking prickly pears. "She would love these," Zahid said.

He was right. My mother loved prickly pears. I smiled and turned back to the little boy so that he was watching as I took the apple in my left hand and covered the edge of it with my sleeve before moving my arm back to my side and drop the fruit in my pants pocket. I took the hem of my oversized tunic and draped it over my waist to ensure the merchants and the guards couldn't see the lump at my side. The little boy chuckled at my mischievousness. At the same time, Zahid turned back and showed me a prickly pear. I took it in my right hand.

"Oh, it looks good," I said honestly. "I'll have to bring her by later. What time are you here until?"

"Seven," Zahid said honestly.

"Hmm... Be back a little later this afternoon. Save us the best ones!" I called back as I walked off.

"Keep yourself out of trouble!" Zahid yelled after me.

"Always," I responded.

It was one of my more successful moments of taking something from the vendors. As I turned away from Zahid's stand, I motioned for the little boy to stay put for a moment. I knew it wouldn't look good if he walked away at the same time I did. I waited until I was about three meters from the stand before motioning for the little boy to follow me. I pushed through the crowd, quickly noticing that the people around me were watching my movements carefully. They didn't trust me, and it was rightfully so.

Eventually, after we had gotten out of the thick of the crowd, I turned back to the little boy and smiled at him. I motioned for him to run ahead of me. He was smart to dart ahead of me so I could watch where he was going. I followed the boy through the stands and back toward the other side of the marketplace. My home was on the other end of the middle of Cairo, but I didn't mind. I would have to double back and head to the spice stand to grab the cumin for my mother anyway. I walked up to the boy's side after a moment and handed him the apple.

"Here you are," I said, switching back to Arabic.

"Thank you!" the boy said happily.

"You're welcome. Enjoy it," I said.

I was about to walk off when the boy called me back. "Miss?" I turned back to him with a nod. "Why did you take this for me?"

"No one should have to wonder where their next meal is coming from," I answered honestly.

"Will you show me how you steal the food without them noticing?" the boy asked.

I'd never tried to teach someone else how to steal food or anything else. I was hesitant to start now. I did it because the merchants had known me since I was a small child. They now thought about it as a game as I was the only person who did so and I always ensured to come back later and pay them for whatever I took - even if they'd had no idea that I had taken something from them in the first place. I didn't know how the merchants would handle it if I began teaching others to steal. Plus, it risked my mother finding out what I did in my spare time.

It didn't matter as I didn't get much chance to think about it further. "Steal the food?" a voice asked.

Both the little boy and I whipped around to see one of the guards watching us. My heart sank to the floor as I grabbed the apple back from the shaking boy. I had been so hopeful that I might not be caught this time. Naturally, I was. Normally I would find a way to stupidly mutter about myself and remind the guards that I didn't actually steal from the vendors, but this man must have been new. I had never seen him before. His black trousers and gold tunic were enough to indicate that he was a member of the guard who now believed I was a common thief.

"You're new," I commented dumbly, switching back to English.

"And you're a thief," the man replied.

"I prefer people to think of it as me placing a loan down without their knowledge," I said, smiling.

Maybe he had a good sense of humor. "Hand the apple back, boy," the guard snarled.

Maybe not. "He's starving!" I snapped, pushing the boy behind me. "Not to mention he's just a little kid. Have a heart. Just let him keep the apple."

"I think not. Return it," the guard said.

"No," I said.

"Hand it over. One last chance," the guard said.

Without giving myself a chance to think more of it, I began stepping backward slowly. I lowered my voice as I tightened my muscles. I spoke in Arabic again for the little boy without looking away from the guard. "When I say, turn and run. I'll be right behind you," I whispered to the boy, switching back to English for the guard. "Come on. You don't want to do this the hard way, do you?"

"That's entirely up to you," the guard said.

"Hard way it is," I said, switching to Arabic again. "Run!"

It would have been nice if the guard would have let us off with a warning, but it didn't seem that it was going to go that way. The little boy and I turned and ran back toward the center of the marketplace. I refused to let us get caught by the guard, but it would be hard. The marketplace was already crowded and would erupt into chaos now. I placed a hand on the boy's back to push him along as the new guard called to the others who were nearby. Damn... They wouldn't hurt me but it would certainly make it harder to escape. Still, the only thing to do was push forward.

As we sprinted toward the middle of the marketplace, I knew we would have to get up out of the streets. It was too easy to get caught up in the crowd. I slammed through a few families as I attempted to find a way out of the crowd. As I moved toward the middle of the marketplace, I grabbed the little boy and gave him a foot up onto the ledge of one of the merchant patios. The little boy was smart enough to keep moving as I grabbed the crossbar of the patio and pulled myself up behind him.

"Come on! Come on," I told the little boy as I motioned him behind me.

He was panting and breathing unsteadily as we ran. I figured he had never done something like this before. I knew it wasn't easy for him to keep up but we had to keep moving. As we ran over the roofs of the buildings, we jumped between the ones that were close enough together. I stopped after each jump to turn back and make sure the boy had made it. There was a large bundle of hanging laundry wires that I knew we could cross over. If we were lucky, the guards would slip off it. I took the little boy's hands and pulled him along with me as we traversed the wires.

The little boy looked like he was having a hard time keeping steady but I kept a tight grip on him as we crossed from one end of the marketplace to the other. The guards were thankfully slowly falling behind us. Eventually, we made it to the roofs on the other end of the marketplace and I motioned for the boy to follow me again as we jumped and dove between the uneven roofs of the merchant stores. I continued moving along the roofs until a panel on the roof I was running on gave out under my foot and I collapsed halfway into the opening.

"Are you alright?" the boy asked, stopping.

"Keep moving!" I yelled at him.

The boy ended up a little ahead of me as I pulled myself back up through the opening and continued along with him, hopping between the roofs, desperate to put more distance between us and the guards. I threw myself over the edges of the roofs and continued pushing the boy ahead of me. We were getting further and further ahead of the guards, which was a good thing. I was used to running like this. The guards didn't usually have to deal with free-running thieves.

It was almost ten minutes before we finally managed to lose the guards. I motioned for the boy to stop running as I threw myself over the ledge of one building, hitting the edge of the building next door and dropping in between the buildings to the ground a full story below. My legs twinged with the sudden jolt of hitting the ground as I looked up and nodded for the boy to slide down behind me. He hesitated for a moment before following in my footsteps and sliding off the edge of the roof.

He hit my arms much faster than I had been expecting and I stumbled back a few steps before gathering my balance again. I smiled at the little boy as I allowed him to take a step back. Somehow, we had done it. We were safe. I could hear the guards yelling after us a few yards away. Hopefully, they wouldn't realize we had gotten down here. I brushed the hair off the boy's forehead as I took the apple back out of my pocket and took a small bite out of it. His payment for my troubles. I winked at the boy as I tossed the apple underhanded to him.

"If you want to learn, here it is. Lesson number one: never steal from someone you can't outrun," I told him playfully.

"Thank you," the boy said, laughing.

"You're welcome. Be careful," I warned him.

"Will I see you again?"

I smiled down at him. "At some point, I'm sure."

Just like that, we ended up getting cornered again. "You!" the guard we had just outrun yelled to us. "Get back here!"

I whipped back around to the boy. "Go! I'll draw them off!"

"But -"

"Go!" I repeated.

If he wasn't with me, I could get out of here without a problem. I smiled at the boy and motioned for him to take off away from the guards. He did so with a final look at me. I did the same thing in the other direction toward the guards, slamming through the vendors and nearly mowing down some of the people in the marketplace, barely spinning out of the guard's grasp. This one was much more aggressive than most of the other guards that chased me around. I missed those men. I sprinted toward the edge of the marketplace, desperate to get lost in the narrower alleys outside the market.

Smiling back at the guards who were chasing me, I ran past two of them and hit the ground as I slid through the dirt between them, causing the two men to get tripped up over each other. I darted down another alley as I hopped back to my feet as I continued running, taking each turn blindly. A merchant was blocking the other end of the alley and I gasped, hitting the edge of his cart and jumping up, grabbing the wooden bars that connected the buildings and pulling myself up onto it, running over the bars almost fifteen feet over the guard's heads.

It was only when I reached the last wooden support that I jumped back to the ground, darting around the corner and using a pole to hit the ground again. I ran over some of the merchant stands to cross to the other side of the street and jump up to one of the balconies, flinging myself onto the other side. I ran into the building and took off through the window on the other end of the room, hitting the street outside again. I giggled nervously as I threw myself through the streets and took two stairs at a time with a vague plan in mind.

The guards were all trying to push their way through the people in the marketplace but weren't as used to this as I was. I was smaller and a lot more flexible, easily able to fight through crowds. As I hit the rooftop of the tapestry shop, I darted to the other end of the roof, picking a rolled-up carpet in my hand and flinging myself off the roof without another thought. I threw the carpet into the wooden piles beneath my feet as I grabbed onto a railing below me, pulling myself into the window and hiding there for a moment as I waited for the guards to pass.

There was a loud muttering from the rooftop as the guards wondered where to go now. I laughed breathlessly as I walked to the back entrance of the store, trying to ignore the looks I was getting. It was going to be a circuitous route back to my house, but I would be okay for now. I got away from who I needed to get away from. All I was going to have to do was stay away from the marketplace for the next few days and give the guards a nice gift once they had calmed down. This one went a little further than I meant to and it was helped by there being a new guard.

As I wandered back out onto the street, I heard some commotion not far from me. My heart skipped a beat as I feared for a moment that it was the guards. I was in for it all over again. Without giving myself a moment to think about it, I took off and darted down a random street. I was about a quarter-mile away from my home - a relatively straight shot - when a man reached out and grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks. For a moment I believed it was Nasir, a guard I was used to who always let me go after a good scolding.

Unfortunately, it was a guard I had never seen before today. It was the same guard from earlier. My face drained of color. This time, he was alone. "I've got you now, urchin," the guard growled.

"Hey, I'm not an urchin!" I shouted, trying to pull my arm away from him. "I was just helping that little boy who was starving!"

"You're coming with me," the guard snarled.

"I am not! Come on, leave me alone! I'll pay for the apple, it's not that big of a deal!" I shouted.

"You were caught stealing and evading the guard. It's too late for payment," the guard said.

"It's a joke! Ask any of the other guards. It's always a joke! I come back and pay for whatever I take later!"

The guard hesitated for a moment. "This is something you do regularly?"

I was stunned at my moronic statement. "Well..."

"Come along," the guard snapped.

How could I have said something that stupid? I was stunned out of words for a moment as the guard wrapped a hand around my bicep and began dragging me away. I pleaded nonsensically with the man to let me go, telling him that I would pay for the apple at least three times what it was worth. It was like the man didn't even speak English. He ignored my pleas as he began pulling me away from the marketplace and my home. My heart dropped as I realized where we were heading. It wasn't somewhere I wanted to go.

Even though I wasn't weak, I was nowhere near as strong as the man. I batted at his arms and stomach but he ignored me, instead, taking me by my hair and pulling me along. I grunted and jammed my arm into his stomach. He loosened his grip on my hair but continued to drag me along. I realized with a hint of horror that I was right when I had initially guessed where we were going. We were heading toward the Cairo prison. He was likely not trying to arrest me but at least hold me in the jail for a few hours until my parents came to release me, which wasn't something I could afford.

We were mere steps away from the back entrance to the prison when someone in black robes with a gravelly voice shouted at the guard in Arabic and used the sword to slice shallowly into the guard's hand, who immediately released me. As shaken as I was, I was reasonably certain that the man had told the guard to release me. My voice died as I stopped rambling on about whatever it was I had been talking about before. Something about offering to pay the man whatever he wanted for the apple. I wasn't even sure at that point.

As my vision came back to, I realized that the guard's hand was bleeding from the sword slice. Since he had released me, I stepped away from him nervously. I wasn't given a moment to understand what was going on as I was pulled back by the figure in black robes. His strong grip kept me from stepping away from him. My heart was pounding with both fear and exhaustion as the man kept his hand wrapped firmly around my bicep. His grip was reassuring though. The guard stepped back toward me as the man in black held out his sword threateningly.

"The woman has already offered to pay. Do not lay a hand on her," the man in black said in Arabic. I watched through blurry vision as the man in black dug into his pocket with his spare hand and tossed a coin at the guard, who caught it with his uninjured hand. "Begone."

No way simply telling him to leave was going to work. But, it did. I watched in horror as the guard nodded at the man in black. The guard gave me a threatening and hateful look as he cradled his bloody hand and tucked the coin down into his trouser pockets. The guard gave a sharp nod before turning and walking back toward the marketplace. I relaxed slightly. My main problem was finally gone, but I was now left with another. I was stuck in an unfamiliar dark alley away from the main commotion of town with a strange man. Hopefully, him having saved me boded well.

It had been a long time that I had been avoiding looking at my savior in the eye. Now it was time for me to look at him. I was genuinely surprised when I turned and met the man's eyes for the first time. I had expected someone in their mid to late twenties just based on his deep voice alone. Not to mention the commandeering stance that I had noticed before actually getting a good look at him. The man must have been at least six feet tall. He stood with his spine straight and his gaze still fixed firmly on my attacker.

If I had just glanced at him, I would have thought my initial judgment of the man was correct. He was a hulking figure who looked at first like he was twice my age. But as I let my gaze settle over his body and scan his features I realized that there was something almost boyish in the man's face. He was older than me but not quite as old as I had initially expected. It didn't look like he was much older than his early twenties.

The man certainly wasn't from Cairo. He didn't look like someone who enjoyed dwelling in a popular tourist city. Judging by the black robes that covered his body and the black turban that covered the top of his head (along with the sword he had used) it became very obvious to me that he was from a native Egyptian tribe. He also had tattoos under both of his dark eyes. They screamed that he was dangerous, but I was drawn to them. Hell, I was drawn to the man in general.

The man wasn't like anyone I had ever seen before. I was used to seeing Egyptians, as he was, but he wasn't the kind of man who lived and worked in Cairo. He wasn't wearing a suit or street clothes. His robes looked designed to keep the harsh sun and whipping sands of the desert at bay. His black hair hung in curls down to his shoulders. It wasn't cut or styled like most men's hair was. His tanned skin only increased my suspicion that he wasn't a native to Cairo. Both he and I spent a long time staring at each other, neither one of us saying a word to the other.

We were opposites. Where the man had curly black hair, I had pin-straight blonde hair. The man's eyes were dark and brooding. Mine were bright blue and playful. The man towered over me. His dark skin countered strangely against my barely-tanned arm. He was tattooed and appeared to be a warrior. My parents would have killed me if I had dared get a tattoo. I attempted to look tough, but I knew I appeared as a normal middle-class woman. Perhaps it was those differences that caused my immediate attraction to the man.

It was only after we had been silent for a few minutes that I realized the man was still holding my arm in his hand protectively, even though the danger was long gone. The man released my arm as I took a few steps back, rubbing my arm where he'd had my arm in his grip. We stared at each other for a while longer while the man replaced his sword in its sheath.

I knew I had been silent too long so I finally said, "Thank you for your help."

"You are welcome," the man replied. His voice was smooth and deep without the dangerous edge in it and I found myself enjoying the sound of it. "Are you hungry?"

"What?" I asked, surprised by his words.

"The apple you stole. Are you hungry?"

What was he talking about? I watched as the man reached into the pockets of his robes. Of course. He thought I was an urchin. "No, no, please don't do that. I'm not an urchin," I said, reaching out to stop him from giving me any of his money. The man stopped reaching down but looked surprised by my words. "I know it probably looks like I am, but I just wore some old clothes today. Hell, I was planning on going and buying more tomorrow. Not that you care... Trust me, I could have afforded the apple."

The man didn't seem bothered by my rambling. He was still stuck on my previous comment. "Why would you steal it if you could afford it?" he asked.

"Oh, that doesn't matter," I said flippantly.

"That guard nearly took your hand off and you treat this as though it doesn’t matter?"

I laughed carelessly. "Please, that guard was just new. He doesn’t know me yet. The others will tell him about me later and he'll learn."

"What does that have to do with anything?" the man asked.

"It has everything to do with what just happened. The guards will give me a good chase for a little while and yell all sorts of rude things after me until I get away. They never come for me later. They know I’ll pay them back for whatever I take."

The man shook his head. "I don't understand."

"What?"

"Why go through all that trouble to take something you could otherwise afford just to repay the vendors later?"

That was when I realized just how insane I must have sounded to any strangers I met. I smiled at the man, shaking my head. "It's a long story." The man still looked bothered by the fact that I didn't admit the truth. I figured that I should have given him something as he had just saved my life. "It's also not one made for a first meeting."

Much to my surprise, the man smiled back at me. "First meeting?" he asked.

Idiot! I laughed and found myself a little embarrassed by what I had just said. I'd made it far too obvious that I was hoping we would meet again. I decided to try and turn it into a joke instead. "I'm a hard one to shake," I teased.

I noticed as his grin widened that he looked much younger when he smiled. "What is your name?" he asked.

For some reason, the question made me nervous. "Renata," I spat out before I could think better of it. I shook my head at myself and corrected my answer. "Ren."

"Renata," the man repeated, saying it as if he were testing the name out on his tongue.

"Just Ren, I insist," I said.

"Do you have a problem with Renata?" he asked.

It was the first time in a long time I had heard someone call me by my full name who wasn't my parents. I noticed that the way the man said my name, he rolled the 'r' and extended some of the syllables that most people wouldn't. I almost - almost - liked the way the man said it. It was so much different than the way anyone else said it. But I still wanted to be called Ren. It was the only thing anyone called me. There was no deeper reason that I didn't want to be called Renata, I just didn't like the way my given name sounded.

"Not really, I've just always hated it," I said, feeling a little stupid.

"You do?" the man asked.

"I do. Always have."

"Well, I like it."

A small smile tilted up on the edge of my mouth. "No one calls me Renata. Except for my parents when I know I’ve really pissed them off."

The man smiled back. "What if I want to call you Renata?"

If it kept him talking to me, I would be perfectly happy to let him call me by my given name. "Know I might not respond," I teased.

The man chuckled. "I'll take it."

Since he knew my name now, it was only fair that I knew his. "Well, I should at least have something to call you. Otherwise, I'll make up a name for you and I promise you won't like that," I teased gently.

The man chuckled. "My name is Ardeth."

Ardeth. I smiled at him. I liked the way it sounded. "I could have come up with something better," I teased. Ardeth laughed again, smiling back at me. "Well, Ardeth, your timing is impeccable."

"You are lucky. I don't typically come this far into the center of Cairo," he said.

"What brought you out here?" I asked curiously.

"The noise. It sounded like something was happening and I wanted to ensure there was no one in danger."

"So, it was a damsel in distress you were looking for?" I asked teasingly. Ardeth chuckled as I circled him, placing my hands on my hips. "Well, Ardeth, I'm a damsel and I was in distress but I can handle myself."

A smile turned up on his mouth. "So I see." Ardeth glanced around as we heard some shouting in the distance. "You have certainly caused quite the commotion," Ardeth said.

"Oh, I'm known for it."

"You are?"

"I have to make a name for myself somehow."

Ardeth laughed. "Are you planning on hiding in this alley forever?"

Honestly, I wasn't even completely sure where we were. "No, I just wanted to wait until they were gone," I said. Ardeth and I glanced at each side of the alley to see that it appeared that we were now completely alone. "I think they are. Looks like I'm in the clear."

"Shall we?" Ardeth offered, extending a hand.

"You don't need to escort me back. I think I can manage without falling and hurting myself," I teased.

"I've seen no evidence of that so far," Ardeth said.

We both laughed at his fair statement. I liked the look of his smile. Especially since it was true. I had a knack for getting into trouble. Ardeth appeared much closer to my age when he smiled at me like that. Otherwise, he appeared to be far older than me. But he was handsome both ways. Without saying anything, I nodded for Ardeth to walk out of the alley with me. I didn't want to leave his company anyway. We were about to head back into the marketplace when there was a commotion at the end of the alley. More guards were headed our way.

"Ren!" Jalil, one of the guards I'd known for years, shouted.

"Uh-oh. I thought I lost the rest of them," I gasped.

"Stand back," Ardeth said.

My heart skipped a beat as Ardeth moved to pull his sword free from its sheath and I gasped in sudden fear. "What are you doing? Are you insane?" I gasped, ripping his arm back. "You'll make things worse!"

"You can't stand here and do nothing!" Ardeth said, sounding shocked.

"Who said anything about doing nothing? I told you before, it's like a game," I said, smirking.

"What?" Ardeth asked.

"Come on! And put that damned thing away," I snapped, motioning to the sword.

Ardeth still looked surprised when I reached out and took his arm, dragging him along with me. He was still staring at me like I had lost my mind. "Where are we going?" Ardeth asked.

"Can you just trust me for a minute?" I said. "I know all the back ways to the city. They'll never catch up with us."

The guards were coming toward us from the part of the alley that we could escape from. So, I reached out for Ardeth and pulled him with me toward the fenced-off portion, grabbing his arm and pulling him over the fence. We hit the ground at the same time as I rolled through the sand, hopping back to my feet and taking off with Ardeth in tow. He had landed straight on his feet. We grinned at each other before sprinting as hard as we could back toward the center of the marketplace and my house.

It didn't take us long to get caught up in the crowd, shoving and pushing our way through the shoppers. Thankfully, Ardeth was quick to follow my footsteps as I jumped onto one of the displays and grabbed onto a wooden support I had to jump for before swinging onto the second. Ardeth followed as I swung over two more wooden bars before letting go and hitting the ground on the other side of the marketplace. Ardeth was a second behind me. As we hit the ground, I took his hand again, pulling him along as I ran through the crowd again.

As the new guard crossed in front of us, I leaned up on a bar and kicked into his stomach, throwing him to the ground as I hit the staircase, running up it and jumping to the other side of the staircase, running over the merchant stands to avoid the crowds. Ardeth followed at my heels as we hit the ground again before bounding back up a small set of stairs and onto wooden supports sticking out of the wall of one of the merchant shops. Ardeth was again at my heels as I jumped from one to the next, barely able to keep my balance.

We crossed over almost twenty before reaching a scaffolding set up at the end of the building, which we both grabbed, pulling ourselves up it toward the rooftops. Ardeth and I hit the rooftop, not stopping for a moment as we sprinted across them, making a large jump between two of the buildings, both of us hitting in a tuck-and-roll as we hopped up and continued, sliding down one of the connecting beams between the buildings and landing on the ground again, running off without looking back to see how close the guards were.

We continued over the rooftops, sliding under beams and hopping over boxes that were left out so we could head toward the edge of the marketplace. I was a little surprised and impressed to see that Ardeth was keeping up with me effortlessly. I had been doing this for years and was already well adapted to running through the marketplace. Usually, no one could handle my runs. I knew that we would be cornered at the end of the rooftop we were on now, but I had a plan to escape. I ran toward the end of the building with my sights set on my escape.

There was a large pole attached to the scaffolding at the end of the building, but Ardeth hadn't realized what I was planning yet. He reached out and took my wrist again, stopping me. "Renata, there's no way you can make that jump," Ardeth warned.

"Good thing we're not jumping," I said.

"So..." Ardeth trailed off, not understanding.

"Hang on!" I yelled.

This would have been a bad time to explain what was going on. I took Ardeth's arm this time and pulled him toward the pole. I began laughing slightly maniacally as I hit the pole and placed my foot on the foothold (which was actually where it should have been hooked into the scaffolding), forcing Ardeth to follow suit. Our combined weight pushed the pole off its precarious spot against the building as it shifted across the alley. Ardeth and I both shrieked with laughter as we shot to the wooden patio covering across the way. The guards at the edge of the roof were shouting after us angrily.

It was just a brief second before we hit the straw and clay roof of the tapestry shop's back patio far harder than I was used to, considering this time the pole was also carrying Ardeth's weight. This time I didn't stop as we slammed into the roof. Instead, this time we hit the roof and collapsed straight through it, hitting the quilts and blankets that had been left out on the floor. Our momentum forced us to go spinning together through the blankets, rolling on top of and underneath each other as we shot across the floor.

We only stopped spinning and rolling together after a few seconds that felt like hours. My head was still spinning as I landed on the other end of the patio. Ardeth and I were both grunting in moderate pain but laughing even harder. It was one of the most priceless runs I'd had in a long time. Ardeth was laying over me and likely about to ask if I was okay when I reached up and slapped my hand over his mouth, pointing through a hole on the other end of the patio roof. The guards were standing up on the roof and looking through the hole.

"Where did they go?" Jalil asked.

"It's Ren, she's probably halfway back to the City Center by now," Nasir, another one of the guards I was familiar with, said.

"Every damned day," Jalil said breathlessly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And yet they still get fooled every day," I whispered to Ardeth, who laughed through my hand.

"Give in, gentlemen," Sharif said, laughing fondly. "We have the coin for the apple."

"What?" the new guard asked, looking shocked.

"You have much to learn," Nasir laughed, patting the new guard on the back. "That's not the last you'll see of Ren Adams."

As the four guards walked off, I smiled up at Ardeth, removing my hand and keeping my voice low. "We'll be able to leave in a few minutes," I said, realizing just then how breathless I was. "We just have to make sure they're gone before we move."

"The guards know you by name?" Ardeth asked curiously.

"I told you I made a name for myself with them," I said, giggling.

We both chuckled as Ardeth brushed some dust and hair out of my face. "I believe you have made quite a mess."

"Me? I'm telling them this was your idea," I teased.

Ardeth laughed again as he opened his mouth to speak, but he was immediately interrupted. "Ren."

We both turned our heads up to see what was going on. It was the store owner. "Hi, Alia," I said as happily as possible. She was scowling at me. I looked up at the shattered roof and winced. "I'll fix that."

Alia sighed, waving me off. "It's fine. I never liked it that much anyway." I smiled at her as Alia's gaze moved to Ardeth. "Oh, good. Two of you now."

"What?" I asked stupidly.

It took me a moment too long to realize what was happening. I glanced up and noticed that Ardeth was still sitting over me. It must not have looked very good to the people standing around us. I blushed slightly as Ardeth was quick to jump off me. He was as nimble as he was fast. I cleared my throat awkwardly as Ardeth reached down and gave me a hand back to my feet. I smiled awkwardly at Alia as I brushed the dirt off of myself. Alia was looking between us curiously.

"No, we just met," I said, motioning between us.

Alia rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ren, dragging strangers into your silly games?"

"It makes you smile, Alia! Just admit it," I chirped.

"Out of my store," Alia snapped.

Alia was a sweet older woman who rarely smiled at me. She wasn't my biggest fan in the world but I knew she didn't want to see me get hurt. As Ardeth and I made our way out of Alia's store, I spotted Hakim, Alia's son who was a few years older than Ren. He had worked at the family store since he was a child. We got along pretty well for the most part. He was one of the few people my age who would speak to me for conversation. I liked Hakim just for his company. He smiled at me as we walked past.

"Ren," Hakim said, by way of greeting.

"Hakim," I replied.

"Thank you. I've been meaning to pull that awning down for ages," Hakim said, pointing back to the now-ruined patio awning.

"Oh, you know me, always willing to help," I teased, shrugging at him.

Hakim seemed to finally notice that I was with someone. "Who's your friend?" Hakim asked, pointing to Ardeth.

"This - This is Ardeth," I stammered, nervous for some reason.

Hakim hummed as his gaze turned to Ardeth. "You'll want to avoid her. She's trouble, that one is," Hakim told him, pointing at me.

"I'm amusing, Hakim. Get it right," I corrected him.

"Whatever you say, Ren," Hakim called back.

Hakim was the one person my age who I regularly spoke to. My parents had always liked him, forcing me to insist many times that we were just friends. I smiled at Hakim and waved back to Alia as I pulled Ardeth toward the door. I could hear Alia bark an order at Hakim to help her pull down the rest of the awning. I frowned at them, knowing that I would have to come back tomorrow to help clean things up. As we wandered out into the open, I smiled at the sun beating down on us. It was lovely weather for a chase.

As I started back toward my house, I barely noticed that Ardeth was still walking with me. I wasn't planning on chasing him off. "Do you do this often?" Ardeth asked curiously.

"Not as much as I'd like to," I admitted. "I have to mess with them from time-to-time but I can't have people being genuinely annoyed or mistrustful of me."

"They seem... exasperated by you."

"It would be easy to think that."

"They aren't?"

"Not really. They're used to it by now. If it bothered them that much they would say something and they never have."

"Aren't you ever afraid they will hurt you?"

"No."

"Not even by accident?"

"Not really," I said. None of us had ever been hurt during the chase more than some bumps, bruises, and little cuts. "They're careful not to hurt me just like I am with them."

"It does seem to bother them," Ardeth pointed out.

If it had bothered them that much, I knew they would have put a stop to it long ago. "Oh, they act as if it drives them insane but it doesn't. Trust me, if they were really upset they would have put a stop to me a long time ago. It's as I said, we all treat it as a game. As you saw, there's some danger but most of the time it's just something to break up the day," I explained.

That explanation was moronic and I knew it. But it was the only one I wanted to give right now. We didn't know each other well enough for me to explain why I did the ridiculous things I did. I was a little embarrassed about what I'd said. It seemed so dangerous. It never seemed like it was just a game to anyone on the outside. Ardeth stared at me for a long time as he thought about what I had said. It looked like he was trying to read a book in a language he didn't speak.

When he did speak, I wasn't expecting what came out of his mouth. "You are an interesting woman, Renata Adams."

"You know what, I'm going to take that as a compliment," I said happily, popping up on my toes.

"It was meant as one." We smiled at each other as we wandered toward my neighborhood. "Do you live here?" Ardeth asked curiously.

"In Cairo?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Yeah, I do. I'm just on the west side of the market," I said, pointing toward my home. "I should be getting home."

"I'm headed that way as well," Ardeth said.

"Come on, then," I said, motioning for him to come with me.

It was probably the most I had spoken to a person I had just met, but something about Ardeth was comforting. I smiled at Ardeth as we started heading back toward my home. I found myself a little nervous, something I rarely felt, as we walked shoulder-to-bicep. I didn't usually have people walking with me unless they were my family. I chitchatted with plenty of the locals but they didn't usually come along with me wherever I was going. I spent most of my time alone, which was surprising considering I talked so much.

"By the way, am I keeping you from something?" I asked suddenly.

It seemed a little unlikely that Ardeth had just been wandering around looking for something interesting to do. "I'll be a bit late to the meeting I was here for," Ardeth told me.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said guiltily.

"It was worth it," Ardeth said. I smiled at him. "I do believe I will be forgiven for my lateness."

"Usually on time, then?" I asked him.

"I have to be," Ardeth said. I raised a brow curiously, the urge to ask what he meant rising in my throat, but I managed to push it down. I didn't know him well enough to press him about it. "May I ask you something?"

"Go for it," I said.

"Your accent. It's American, isn't it?" Ardeth asked.

"It is."

"What is a young American woman doing living in Cairo?"

"Oh, I've lived here since I was five," I answered.

That surprised him. "You live here with your family?"

Sometimes I forgot that not everyone knew I had lived in Cairo for most of my life. "Yes. My parents both lived here for a while when they were first married but went back home to the United States when they found out they were expecting me. We lived there for five years but my parents missed it here and they came back, bringing me with them," I told him the watered-down version of my life.

"What do they love so much about Egypt?" Ardeth asked. I smiled up at him. "It's not a story for a first meeting, is it?"

I smiled. "No."

"Will you ever tell me?"

"Depends if we ever see each other again."

It was the perfect moment to try and set up another meeting with Ardeth. He was the most interesting person I had met in a long time. "Would you like to?" Ardeth asked.

"Well, you haven't creeped me out yet or said anything rude, so I would say the chances are that I would probably enjoy seeing you again," I said. "Would you like to see me again?"

"I get the feeling I will anyway," Ardeth teased.

I laughed loudly. "That wasn't an answer."

"I would," Ardeth said.

At least I knew that I wasn't alone in being the only one to want to see the other again. We smiled at each other again as we wandered down the street I lived on. I lived on a smaller street with just a few other large brick buildings. Most of them were older stores that had been converted to large homes. My own had once been a pottery market. I stopped just a few homes down from mine. Ardeth seemed to be trustworthy, especially as he had saved my life, but I wasn't sure that I should show him where I lived just yet. So, I stopped walking and smiled at Ardeth.

"You didn't have to walk me back, but I appreciate it," I said.

"Could I have trusted you to get back here without getting yourself arrested?" Ardeth asked.

I laughed. "Hey, I've never been arrested before! Not for their lack of trying, though," I said. It was Ardeth's turn to laugh. "This is me."

"Thank you for the interesting afternoon."

"They'll all be boring from now on."

Ardeth smiled. "Perhaps I will have to come and find you the next time I'm in the mood for a run."

It would be nice to have someone come along with me who could keep up. I smiled at him. "I'm always looking for a partner in crime," I said, earning a bright smile from Ardeth. "Well, it was good to meet you, Ardeth."

"You as well, Renata," Ardeth said, inclining his head politely.

"Thank you for the help today, seriously," I said, realizing I hadn't said it enough.

Ardeth nodded. "It was my pleasure. I had more fun than I've had in a while."

"Good."

"I do hope we cross paths again," Ardeth said.

At least I now knew that he wanted to see me just like I wanted to see him. I could only hope it would come to fruition. I merely smiled at Ardeth before slipping away. As I turned back, I noticed Ardeth watching me for a moment before he turned away, heading back toward the marketplace. As I walked back into my home I found myself breathing heavily, even though I had stopped running long ago. When I looked back behind me, standing at my front door, I noticed that Ardeth was already gone. He was faster than anyone else I'd ever met.

Giving myself a final smile, I walked inside the house, immediately noticing how angry my waiting parents looked. "Two hours to get a simple spice?" my mother snarled.

"Oh, damn," I gasped, realizing I hadn't done the one thing I'd gone to the marketplace for. "I'm sorry, I forgot about the spice."

My mother looked furious with me, but her gaze softened slightly as it shifted to my face. "Did something happen? You're flushed," she pointed out.

"What? No, just some commotion in the marketplace. It looked like someone might have been heckling one of the merchants. I got a little spooked and ran off. I took the long way back. It must be from all the running," I said awkwardly. I didn't want them to know about what I had been doing at the marketplace and I didn't want them to know about Ardeth either. If I mentioned anything about him I knew that they would never let it go. "I'll go back and get it now."

"No, it's no big deal," my mother said, waving my worry off. "We can go back to the marketplace tomorrow. I'm glad you're alright, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom," I said sweetly.

"Is that it?" my mother asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, that's it," I said, nodding at her with a vague smile.

"Are you sure?" my father asked.

"Positive," I chirped.

They exchanged a quick look with each other and smiled. "All right. Go ahead and help me get started on dinner, then. The chili might be a little bland," my mother said, shooting me a look.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get the cumin on my next trip," I called back.

All three of us laughed as I undid the buttons on my sweaty shirt and wandered back into the kitchen, barely paying attention to what I was doing. Instead, my mind was caught up in my meeting with Ardeth. I barely knew anything about him, but I found him fascinating. Who else would have run off with me like he had? I shook my head at my stupid thoughts. He wasn't a native. I could tell just by looking at him, especially as he hadn't known anyone in the market. This would likely be the first and last time I would ever see him.


	2. Chapter Two

The following day was a rare one. Cairo was mostly bright and sunny. Today the sky was gloomy and filled with clouds. I rolled around in bed for a while, unwilling to get up. I was tired from the excitement and run I'd had yesterday. Perhaps some of the exhaustion was from meeting Ardeth. My heart had been racing like it never had before when we'd met. As unlikely as it was that I would ever see Ardeth again, I was hoping I would run into him today. As I pushed myself out of bed, I felt my body groaning from the sudden movement.

My body was still sore from our run and tough collapse yesterday. Standing in front of my full-length mirror, I slipped off my nightclothes and looked down at myself. There were bruises littered down the right side of my torso where I had taken the brunt of the fall. My wrist and bicep both had bruises the shapes of human hands from the guards and Ardeth's grasp. My knees were sore from the impact and my back was strained from the jump. I would have to be careful to ensure my parents didn't see me in my current state.

There was no doubt in my mind that my parents would have a cow if they knew just how close I had come to getting hurt. I stared at the bruise on my bicep from Ardeth's grasp for a moment, running my fingers over the print as I shook my head nervously and began dressing. I moved as quickly as possible, dressing in another pair of simple pants and tunic. I ensured to wear a long-sleeved tunic that fell gently around my wrists. I brushed my long blonde hair into a knot at the top of my head and pulled on a pair of old loafers. I would have to walk out to the marketplace again today.

Once I was satisfied that my parents wouldn't be able to see my minor injuries, I gathered my coin purse and turned out of my room, closing the door behind me and heading downstairs. Just as they were yesterday, my parents were already downstairs. My father was pouring over a map of Egypt that ran from Aswan to Minya. I smiled at his efforts. He was looking for King Tutankhamen's Tomb, crossing out places that they and other archeologists had already looked. My mother was in the kitchen, reading her Ancient Egyptology book as she stirred the morning porridge.

"Good morning," I greeted, heading to my father first.

"Morning, love," my mother called back, barely looking up from her porridge. "Sleep well?"

"I'd sleep better if you were offering to bring me on your next dig, which it appears you're planning," I teased, leaning over his shoulder.

He looked up at me, scowling playfully. "Go get your breakfast."

"Right," I said quickly.

"I'd have slept better if you had gotten me the cumin I asked you to," my mother put in as I walked over to her.

"Okay. That's fair. I'll get it today," I said.

She glanced up at the clock and smiled. "You had best leave now if I want it before it's time to make dinner."

It was one of my bad habits. I would leave for one thing and come back hours later having forgotten what I had initially gone out for. I laughed, walking backward toward the door. "I'm going to get it now. I'll be back later!" I called back to my parents.

"Do you want breakfast before you go?" my mother yelled.

"No, thank you. I'll get something while I'm out," I said. "See you later!"

"Be safe!" my mother called.

"Be back before dark!" my father added.

Cairo was reasonably safe at all times but like most places, the city got a little rougher at night. I smiled back at my parents and shot them a quick wave as I tucked my coin purse into my pocket and walked outside. As I had seen when I had first woken up, it was a gloomy day outside but there was still some warmth in the air from the remaining bits of summer. I knew that I would need to head to the spice stand before the end of the day but I wasn't ready yet. There were a few things I needed to do first. I needed to go to the tapestry store first and offer any help I could to Alia.

It didn't take me a long time to get to Alia's tapestry store. It was close to the entrance of the marketplace. I spotted Alia near the front of the store, sweeping some dust back outside. "Good Morning Alia," I chirped, walking up to her.

Alia glanced up from the broom. "Ren. Come to destroy more of my shop?"

"Come to apologize for the mess and offer to help clean up," I said, giggling bashfully.

There was still a pretty big mess on the back patio that I could see. Alia's lips tilted up in a small smile. "Hakim is moving everything that was under the patio covering inside. Help him, will you?" she asked.

"Of course," I said.

The last thing I needed to do right now was to tell her that I wasn't going to help. It had been my fault that her shop was destroyed since we had collapsed through the roof. The least I could do was offer to clean some of it up. I walked toward the back of the store and smiled as I watched Hakim work. He was standing with his back to me. I had long considered Hakim to be my best friend, though I was confident he didn't feel the same way about me. Hakim's head tilted up slightly as I wandered toward him, my coin purse jingling with my steps.

"Ren," Hakim called, greeting me without looking up.

"Hi, Hakim," I greeted happily.

"Back to make another mess already?"

My face flushed. "Just as I told your mother, I’m here to try and clean it up."

Cleaning wasn't my forte, but I wasn't going to leave them alone to the mess I'd made. Hakim finally turned back and I was quick to realize that his tunic was unbuttoned, showing off his bare torso. My cheeks flamed as I forced myself to look in his eyes. "Come on, then," Hakim called, motioning me after him, not noticing my awkward movements.

"What can I do?" I asked, refusing to look away from his face.

"If I give you a hand up, will you take down the rest of the awning?" Hakim asked.

"Sure," I said.

Hakim motioned me toward the wall and kneeled. I walked up to him and nodded. We had done this before when we'd cleaned the roof for Alia last summer. We stood at the edge of where the awning used to be connected to the roof. Ardeth and I had only managed to half-free it with our fall the prior afternoon. Hakim kneeled about halfway to the ground and wrapped a hand around my right thigh as I stepped on his bent knee, resting my hand on his shoulder to push myself off of him and onto the crux of where the old awning and roof met.

Hakim watched as I swung over the edge of the awning and positioned myself at the joint of the two structures. He was laughing at how easily I could move around the narrow structure. "I swear you're like a monkey," he teased.

"No more than you, my friend," I shot back.

We had always had that kind of relationship. We liked to tease each other to the point where some of our conversations were a little insulting. No one ever overheard them as they would have been considered completely inappropriate to anyone else. Hakim grinned at me but still sent a rude gesture in my direction. I laughed, sending the gesture back to him. We grinned at each other as I turned to the wall and began kicking at the wooden supports to try and take them down. As we worked, I began humming an old tune my parents had used to sing to me.

It went on for a few minutes before Hakim's voice echoed below me. "Ren."

My voice dropped off as I glanced down at him and scowled. "I'm not going to stop singing, if that's what you want," I snapped.

"It's not. Though you really should, you sound like a dying cat," Hakim said.

Naturally, we could only be peaceful for so long before the insults truly began. I barked out a laugh as I threw a small piece of the old wooden awning at Hakim, who ducked out of the way just in time. "You're an asshole," I hissed at him.

"Proper ladies don't speak that way," Hakim teased.

That was why I'd called him an asshole in the first place. "I'd assume they also don't make a habit of falling through roofs to escape guards," I pointed out. Hakim nodded as he chucked a piece of broken wood into the trash pile. "We both know I'm not proper, Hakim."

Hakim chuckled. "That we do."

"But?" I prompted.

"But, what? I hate you," Hakim said.

I smiled at him. "Liar." We grinned at each other as I kneeled, resting in the crux of the building and awning. "What did you want?" I asked curiously.

"Who was the man you were with yesterday?" Hakim asked.

"Uh, I don't know much about him. His name is Ardeth and he saved me from that new guard," I said, feeling extremely foolish.

Hakim's head snapped up. "That's all you know about him?"

It wasn't like I had spent a week getting to know every little detail about his life. "I was barely around him for an hour and we spent most of that running! I didn't ask for his autobiography," I snapped. We had trusted each other for a moment, nothing more. Hakim huffed in disbelief as I looked down at him. "I doubt I'll ever see him again anyway."

"How did you come across him in the first place?" Hakim asked.

"That new guard -"

"Omar."

"Whatever," I growled, rolling my wrist in frustration from where Omar had grabbed me so roughly. "He had caught me for stealing and was dragging me toward the prison." Hakim finally looked up from his work and over to me. "I was trying to get away and offering to pay for the apple but he wouldn't listen. Ardeth stepped in and told him to leave me alone since I had already offered to pay for it. He tossed Omar a coin and that was it. I thanked him, the guards found us again, and we took off together that time. I wasn't going to leave him after he'd saved me."

It was the watered-down version of what had happened but it was close enough to exactly what had happened. Hakim hummed slowly. "Omar had a deep cut in his hand yesterday," he commented.

"Oh, Ardeth sliced into Omar's hand to get him to release me," I said, immediately realizing that it would sound terrible. As expected, Hakim gave me a funny look. "Come on, Hakim! Ardeth thought Omar was going to throw me in prison."

"So, he assaulted him," Hakim reasoned.

"For trying to save me. There's something noble to be said for that," I argued.

"Just as you believe your stealing for the local kids is noble," Hakim added.

"It is, and you know that," I said.

"I know it is, but it's also illegal."

"They get over it."

"Ren -"

"Hakim," I interrupted, looking down at him and folding my arms over my chest. "What's the matter?"

Hakim shook his head. "Nothing."

His face told me that he had a major problem with whatever my relationship was with Ardeth. I stared at Hakim for a while, trying to figure it out, but it was impossible. "Something's wrong. What is it?" I asked gently.

"One of these days, someone is going to hurt you, Ren. Whether it's a guard you've known for years who swings a little too hard or a guard who's never seen you before. Maybe even a stranger you're inclined to trust just because they helped you," Ardeth said, looking up at me. I stared at him for a while, knowing he meant Ardeth. He was not attempting to hide it. "The day is going to come that you don't walk away."

His comment made sense but I wasn't sure where he was going with it. "And?" I prompted.

"And some people who love you would miss you greatly," Hakim muttered.

For a moment, I thought he was acting like my parents would have if they realized just how deeply my pastime went. It took me a moment, staring right at the tension in his hunched shoulders to realize that he meant himself. He didn't mean my parents. He meant himself. He would miss me. I had always thought that since I was his age he liked having someone to talk to, but maybe he did care for me more than I had initially thought. I stared at Hakim for a long time, trying to read the tension in his stance, but Hakim wasn't an easy person to read.

It was a while, but eventually, Hakim must have felt my eyes on him. He looked up from his work to meet my eyes. "What is it?" he snapped.

"Uh, nothing," I muttered quickly, going back to my work and trying to shake my head clear of my thoughts. Hakim didn't seem too eager to chat right now. I did the same, still speaking but no longer looking at him. "So, you don't trust Ardeth?"

Hakim shook his head. "I don't know him but something about him doesn't sit well."

"What's that?" I asked curiously.

Whatever Hakim thought about someone mattered to me. He'd always been a good judge of character. Hakim let out a deep breath. "You ran off with a strange man," he pointed out.

It wasn't why he didn't trust Ardeth, he was just worried about me. "Who had saved me," I reminded him.

"Ren, what did you genuinely know about this man?" Ardeth asked, looking up at me. "What do you know about him now?"

Finally, I was fed up with the conversation. "Look, he helped me out of a tight spot once," I snapped, kicking down the rest of the awning slightly harder than I'd meant to. I lost my footing as the awning gave way and slipped out of my spot. I collapsed toward the ground, being easily caught by Hakim to slow my fall. Once I'd regained my footing, I stepped back from his grip. "I wasn't going to just shoo him away. He was perfectly nice and respectful, but that's it. He's gone and I doubt he's given me a single thought since we parted ways."

My stomach jolted slightly with the thought. I didn't like that Ardeth had occupied so many of my thoughts while I might have already been a distant memory to him. Hakim was giving me a strange look. "Speaking as someone who has known you for many years, Ren, you're not that easy to forget," Hakim said quietly.

It was only right then that I realized how close Hakim and I were standing. It was closer than we had ever been before. My initial step back was barely a few inches from him. I stared at him, suddenly noticing that I was shifting nervously. I could feel Hakim's hot breath fanning over my face, pushing my hair back. I could see the beads of sweat on his bare chest. I could see the bits of dirt built up underneath his fingernails and the streaks of dirt behind his ear from pushing the dark strands back. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.

"There's an insult in there," I said weakly, hearing my voice crack.

Hakim shook his head so slightly that I almost wasn't sure he had. "Not always," he whispered back.

We stared at each other for a moment when there was a shout. "Hakim!" Alia yelled. Hakim and I shot apart and turned to stare at his mother, who was giving us a strange look. She shook her head and looked back at her son. "Keep an eye on the counter for a bit, will you?"

Hakim nodded. "Of course, mother."

"Ren, you can go. I'll have the boys do the rest," Alia offered.

"Yeah, of course. Thanks, Alia," I said.

My feet felt like they were glued to the floor as I tried to force myself to move. I gave Alia a quick smile as I kicked myself into gear. I headed back into the store with Hakim on my heels, trying to calm my jittery nerves. Hakim would pick up on them in a moment. He kept a close distance as I walked toward the front door of their shop. I was almost out the door when Hakim moved quicker than I'd expected and cut me off at the entrance, holding his arms out to block my exit. I crossed my arms over my chest nervously, unable to find something else to do with them.

"Can I help you?" I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"No," Hakim said. "I just like that nervous look on your face."

Naturally. I should have known that Hakim didn't want anything, he just wanted to mess with me. I should have known that he had picked up on my nervous nature. Hakim shot me a teasing grin as I rolled my eyes, placing my palm against his bare chest and shoving him back. He took a few steps away from me and smiled. My heart twinged for a moment as I shoved past him. It was the most undressed I had ever seen a man. Hakim's laughter echoed behind me as I walked off, trying to slow my racing heart.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Hakim teased.

"Shut up, Hakim," I growled without looking back.

"That one's not going away anytime soon," he called.

"Put on a damn shirt," I said, lowering my voice.

He was such an asshole. He had known that I would react like any other teenage girl would when I saw him shirtless. Hakim chuckled loudly enough that it followed me down the street as he walked back into his mother's store and I wandered into the marketplace. I tried to walk as quickly as I possibly could, desperate to get away from Hakim's laughter and for my heart rate to go back to normal. I hadn't been expecting Hakim to be dressed the way he was and I hadn't been expecting my reaction to his state of undress.

The fact that I had been briefly attracted and distracted by a bare-chested man didn't surprise me. It was the fact that the man had been Hakim. He was one of my oldest friends who I had never seen in any light other than friendship, though many other women did. I knew that Hakim had no shortage of suitors. His dark skin, slicked-back long black hair, and deep brown eyes made women all over Cairo - locals and tourists - melt with a flash of his smile. I had always rolled my eyes at his attempts to woo them.

Never once had I thought I would look at him the way those women did. Hakim was my moronic friend I had known since we had tried stealing each other's toys one afternoon in the marketplace when we were three. I would just have to spend a few weeks pretending that nothing had happened while he teased me. After all, I didn't see Hakim that way and he didn't see me that way. We were friends and nothing more than that. Laughing at my stupidity, I wandered back into the marketplace this time on the hunt for the guards. I had one last group of people to make yesterday up to.

It didn't take me long to find Jalil and Nasir toward the far end of the marketplace. I smiled at the sight of them. They were standing together chatting quietly in Arabic. I wondered if they were also thinking about my meeting with Ardeth. Or, perhaps they were talking about the mess I had made. It appeared that some people were still cleaning up what I had thrown around. As I wandered up to the guards I noticed that Sharif wasn't with them. I figured he would show up soon if I was around. I dug down into my pocket and grabbed the coins out of my purse as I walked up to the men.

"Good Morning Jalil. Nasir," I greeted.

Both Jalil and Nasir turned to face me. "Ren," Jalil greeted. "Back to cause another stir already?"

"Very funny," I hissed, holding the coins out to them. "Come to give you the coin for the apple."

Nasir was the one to take them, staring down at the coins in confusion. "This is three times what the apple is worth."

My face brightened slightly as I gave them a guilty smile. "For your troubles. Yesterday was a little more strenuous than I was anticipating," I mumbled, looking around at the vendors who were still cleaning up toppled tables and baskets.

Jalil and Sharif shrugged their shoulders. "We've learned to expect it," Jalil said, nudging my hand back to my side. "Keep the coin. Buy something with it."

"Perhaps a one-way trip back to the United States," Sharif mumbled.

"Who would keep you employed if I weren’t around?" I teased.

They both laughed. Sharif was the first to stop laughing and instead give me a scrutinizing stare. "Who was the man with you yesterday?" he asked.

It seemed I wasn't the only person still thinking about Ardeth. "Oh, I don't know. I had just met him when he saved me from that new guard. I didn't want him to get caught for trying to do the right thing, so I brought him along," I explained awkwardly.

"Not too often you see one of their kind in Cairo," Jalil commented, mostly to Nasir.

"Their kind?" I asked.

Jalil and Nasir exchanged a long look. "He’s not a local, Ren," Nasir said.

"I figured that. Do you know what tribe he belongs to?" I asked them.

"No, but he’s dangerous," Nasir said.

It seemed that everyone was trying to convince me that Ardeth was dangerous but I hadn't seen any evidence of that so far. "Why? He was trying to save me," I said grouchily.

They must have been expecting my sour reaction. The two men smiled at each other. "Take off those rose-tinted glasses, Ren," Nasir warned me. I wasn't wearing rose-tinted glasses! I'd already realized that I would never see him again, after all. I rolled my eyes, folding my arms protectively over my chest. "What was the man's first instinct when we came after you?"

How was it fair that they were judging him for attacking Omar? He was trying to protect a woman he'd thought was too poor to pay for her food. "You startled him," I pointed out. They didn't look convinced. "Come on, you scared me half to death when I first stole from you."

"Not enough, evidently," Sharif answered, coming up on my side.

My stomach was churning in knots from the conversation. "You're all very kind, but I highly doubt I will ever see him again," I told them. They didn't look impressed with my defense. "As you said, he doesn't live here. What reason would he have to come back?"

All three men looked between themselves and began laughing. What the hell was so funny. "You're right," Jalil said. I nodded for him to continue, knowing he wasn't doing. "A pretty foreign woman who is interested in him. What on earth would he want to come back for?"

"I'm not interested, I don't know him," I defended myself weakly.

"That means nothing, my dear," Sharif teased.

"I don't understand," I said dumbly.

"You will," Nasir said.

"In time," Sharif added.

All three men were grinning at me. I scowled back at them, not sure where they were going with this. "As much as you drive us insane, Ren, you are a lovely young woman," Jalil said. I smiled at him, shocked by what he had said. The guards were always hesitant to be nice to me. "Any young man would be very lucky to have you in his life."

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"Go enjoy your day," Nasir said, gently pushing me away.

"See if you can find that lucky man," Sharif teased.

That was what I got for being around a man for more than two minutes. I rolled my eyes as I stepped back from them. "Preferably one who doesn't plan on living in Cairo!" Jalil called after me.

All four of us laughed as I walked off, quickly shooting a nasty gesture back to the men. They laughed again as I let out a soft yawn and wandered further back into the marketplace. I had nothing to do today other than getting the bottle of cumin I should have gotten yesterday. My mother would kill me if I came home again without it. I smiled at some of the children who were charging through the marketplace, stepping off to the side to avoid being stepped on by them. I had barely made it a few yards from the guards when I heard a shout.

"Forget your promise, Ren?" Mara shouted.

Damn. Now I was going to get stuck being her model for the morning. I threw my head back and groaned as I turned to face her. "Hoping you would forget yours," I responded.

Mara smiled. "Not a chance in hell. Over here."

She was pointing to her side, giving me a look that said there was no way I was getting out of being her dress-up doll. "What can I do to get myself out of this?" I asked, walking up to her side.

"Nothing," Mara said, motioning me to follow her.

"But -"

"Over here!" Mara yelped, making my jaws immediately snap shut. "There's a new pattern I've been thinking about trying for a few weeks now. I think it will go wonderfully with your features."

I smiled at her. Mara was a genuinely sweet person. "Okay. Do your worst," I conceded.

I'd made her a promise that she could do whatever she wanted to me as long as I got to take her tunics and have them fitted for free. There was no way I could back out of my promise at this point. Mara gave me a pointed look as I moved behind her stand and into the fitting area she had set up at the end of the street. There were a few screens she used to allow for some privacy. I walked up toward the pedestal in the center of the fitting area and turned to face the mirror. Strung up over it was a deep blue fabric that looked like it had crystals sewn into it.

The color was beautiful. "Talented as ever, Mara," I told her honestly.

Mara smiled at me. "Thank you, dear. We just need to fit it. I think it's close."

"Okay."

Mara motioned to the pedestal and I stepped upon it, glancing around the fitting area. There were pieces of fabric strewn all over the floor that made me smile. Mara had always left a mess all over the place when she worked. I could see some shirts left off to the side that would likely be for me once she was done with the dress. Mara picked up the piece of deep blue fabric and handed it to me so I could see it. The beading was heavy but the fabric was light. It would be perfect to protect me from the excruciating sun while still allowing air to flow through.

Mara began pleating the deep blue fabric down the long side until she had a decent-sized section of pleats. She then tucked the pleated section into my trouser waistband, centered below my navel so that the rest of the fabric was coming from the innermost pleat and to the left. She then tucked along the waist further, until it reached my spine. She then switched sides and pleated the other end of the fabric across the short side. She then passed the shoulder section behind my back and wrapped it so that it passed from my right hip and then over my left shoulder.

Mara stared at her handiwork for a moment as I smiled to myself, looking down at my body. It was very rare that I wore something like this. Mara moved forward after a moment and began adjusting the hang of the fabric so that a deep U was created at the right hip and the shoulder pleats were hanging just below my waist. Mara reached back for a pin and pinned the top section at my shoulder to keep the fabric in place. A few minutes later, Mara stepped back. From what I could see, I was perfectly happy with the way I looked. I knew Mara would make it lovely.

She patted down the fabric in a few places before stepping back and admiring her handiwork. "All finished. Come," Mara said, motioning me to walk with her. I followed Mara out of the fitting area and allowed her to turn me toward the mirror. "What do you think?"

I'd been expecting to be wearing a lovely design, but I wasn't expecting exactly the way I looked. I dressed nearly every day in practical tunics and trousers. I had never been in something like this. It was a gorgeous creation. The skirt sat just above my waist with a piece of crystal mesh fabric resting over my chest and hanging down my back. The deep blue of the design contrasted well with my gently tanned skin. The crystals were twinkling against the sun. I was shocked. As Mara pulled my hair out of its hold, I felt genuinely beautiful for the first time in a long time.

"It's beautiful, Mara. You've outdone yourself," I said, running my hand down the beading. "I just don't have a place to wear it."

"You will," Mara said, brushing my hair back over my shoulders.

"Not anytime soon. I don't have any prospects of so much as a date," I said, trying to not sound too self-pitying.

But Mara didn't look like she believed me. "What about Hakim?" she asked.

A bright blush flooded my cheeks. After this morning the last thing I needed was to be thinking of Hakim that way. "Funny. My parents have said the same thing," I mumbled.

Hakim was the one man who my parents had wanted to see me with. They were determined that he was a good man and one who would treat me well. I agreed, but we were nothing more than friends. "He's a handsome, well-educated man with a good job already," Mara pointed out. I let out a deep breath as I nodded. "I see the two of you out together often."

Just because we hung out together didn't mean that we were anything more than friends. "Hakim is a friend, Mara, the only one my age I have. The last thing I want to do is risk a good friendship for a date that may not even pan out," I told her.

"Could be worth it," Mara said.

"Or, it could ruin everything," I said.

Mara hummed under her breath. "Have you felt anything for Hakim?"

"Not really," I said quickly, and before today it had been the truth. Mara seemed to know that I was only giving her a half-truth. "I mean, he was shirtless today." Mara smiled, having known that I wasn't telling her the whole story. "It doesn't mean anything, Mara. It was just a moment of... I don't know what it was. I've never thought about Hakim that way."

"Have you thought of anyone else that way?" Mara asked curiously.

My mind briefly flashed to Ardeth but I shook my head and said, "No."

"There was a hesitation there," Mara teased.

"No, there wasn't," I snapped.

"There was," Mara argued, smiling brilliantly. My blush returned full-force. I could see where this conversation was going. "I overheard Jalil and Sharif talking about a handsome man you were with yesterday. No one seemed to know who he was."

"Just a guy I ran across who defended me from the guards," I mumbled.

"Defended you?"

"Let it go, Mara. He's probably already on his way back home now," I said sadly.

"Renata."

That wasn't Mara. I turned back in surprise at the sudden voice. Even Mara looked shocked, though that may have been because no one called me by my full name. Except for Ardeth, apparently. I was both shocked and a little pleased that he had somehow found me. I had spent the morning trying to convince myself that Ardeth was gone, I would never see him again, and that I was okay with it. But I hadn't been okay with it. I turned back to Ardeth with a shocked smile. He was dressed as he was yesterday but looked genuinely shocked to see the way I was dressed.

"You look beautiful," Ardeth said, scanning my body respectfully.

The blush had spread from my cheeks to my chest. "Thank you," I said, my voice getting stuck in my throat. Say something, you moron! "I told you I wasn't an urchin."

"So I see," Ardeth said, smiling.

I turned just long enough to see Mara mouthing, "Is that him?"

I nodded, turning back to look at Ardeth. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I thought I would wander around for a while," Ardeth said. "I'm glad to see you."

I smiled, trying to ignore Mara's piercing stare. "So am I."

Ardeth glanced around for a moment before looking back at me. "Would you care to take a stroll? Or, perhaps a run," he teased.

I laughed. "A walk sounds nice."

Any chance to spend some time with Ardeth was perfectly fine with me. Ardeth extended a hand to allow me to walk in front of him. I smiled and nodded my thanks to Mara, who dropped her voice. "No prospects, eh?" she said teasingly.

The blush continued to spread against my chest. "A friendly stroll, Mara," I said.

"That wasn't in question," Mara chuckled.

"I'll be back for my tunics soon!" I yelled back, pushing past her.

"I'll have to burn them all before then," Mara muttered.

There was no way I would let her burn my tunics. She was the only person who could properly fit them. I laughed at her as I fell into step with Ardeth, my deep blue dress swishing around my feet. Ardeth smiled down at me as we walked, towering a full head over me. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are doing here?" I asked him curiously. "I didn't expect to see you again."

"I'm in Cairo for a few days on business," Ardeth explained.

What kind of person had business in the middle of the marketplace? I looked around pointedly. "Where's the business?" I asked, only half-teasingly.

Ardeth chuckled. "Not here. Not until tonight."

"Ah. Come to see the marketplace as it normally is? Or, are you following me?" I teased.

Ardeth smiled. "Hoping to run into you."

"Me? I'm honored."

Naturally, I was pleased that he had been looking for me. "I don't meet many people like you," Ardeth said.

"I'm not surprised," I said, laughing and puffing out my chest proudly. "I'm one of a kind."

Ardeth laughed again. "There aren't many people I know who would take an apple to feed someone they don't even know. You do it knowing what the risk is and taking it on anyway," he commented.

"The world can be a cold and cruel place. I'm just doing my part to make it a little nicer," I said.

Ardeth glanced at me, looking very surprised that my explanation for why I did what I did was so simple. "Why do you not just pay for the food outright if you pay the vendors back later?" he asked.

Asking him what fun that would be probably wasn't a suitable answer, so I decided to go with the truth. "Because I won't always be around to buy food for the kids. You have to show them how to fend for themselves," I said honestly. "These kids have so little from the beginning of their lives, it's not fair that they should starve just because they were unfortunate enough to be born into poverty."

"How did you learn?" Ardeth asked.

"To steal for the kids?" I asked him. Ardeth nodded. "When I was a little kid I used to watch the street magicians and pickpockets. I guess I learned from them. I always loved watching the street magicians' sleight-of-hand tricks. I remember watching the pickpockets greet the wealthy tourists as they got off their boats while stealing their wallets and coin purses and leaving before the tourists could realize what had happened. The guards never chased them, never caught them, hell, they never did anything about them even when they saw it happening.

"For a while, I thought that maybe they just weren't strict about those sorts of things. But when I was ten I saw a guard threaten to dismember a little boy for trying to take a bundle of cherries. I walked up and bought them for him. He told me he was just trying to feed his baby sister. His father had left them and his mother had died a few weeks prior. It broke my heart that they would let a thief walk away from stealing someone's hard-earned money, but they would traumatize a child for trying to feed their family.

"I was so angry about it that I decided if they weren't going to take care of their people, I would do it for them. They weren't going to take care of children. Then I thought that I could buy the food for them. The guards know that too, but I guess I steal it partially because I know it upsets them. Just the way they treat their people upsets me. Maybe I'm hoping one day they'll learn and treat their people better," I explained. Ardeth was staring at me with a blank expression on his face and I shifted awkwardly. "I don't know. It probably seems ridiculous to you."

The silence extended so long that I had prepared myself for Ardeth to walk away and never look back. But he didn't. Instead, he gave me a warm smile. "No, it doesn't. It reflects well on you. You have a good heart, Renata," Ardeth said.

"Thank you," I said happily. Ardeth and I stood together for a moment when I realized that he was still calling me by my full name. "What did I say? Call me Ren."

"Does it bother you that I call you Renata?" Ardeth asked.

My full name wasn't something I normally liked hearing, but I did like the way Ardeth said it. "Well, no. Not really," I told him truthfully. "It's just strange. I'm not used to hearing someone call me that."

"If you wish, I will stop," Ardeth said respectfully.

My heart fluttered slightly. I liked the way he called me by my first name. No one else did. "Don't. It's my given name, I should let someone use it," I offered. Ardeth smiled as I decided to go for it and playfully jab him in the ribs. "Which means you should be honored."

"I am," Ardeth said, smiling politely. "May I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"When did you first begin stealing the food for them?"

A bark of laughter escaped my throat. "Oh, man, that's a good story. I was twelve."

Ardeth looked shocked. "What happened?"

It was an easy enough story to tell him, but it was one of mine. I wanted to know some of his too. "Tell you what, I'll explain what happened the first time I stole food for someone if you answer a few questions of mine," I offered.

For a moment I thought Ardeth would turn down my offer. He looked hesitant. But he eventually nodded. "That only seems fair," he said.

"Okay. I guess I get to start," I giggled. Ardeth nodded for me to continue. "Since I was ten, I had been trying to buy food for the kids around Cairo. It surprised me how many homeless and impoverished children there were in town. My parents were mostly oblivious to what I had been doing with them, but they noticed that money was running through my pockets quicker than usual. They told me that I could no longer dip into the allowance they had always given me. I knew that I couldn't buy food for the kids anymore, but what I could do was take it.

"I'd seen the thieves in the marketplace before. I knew I could take something small if I was careful. Just like yesterday, I played with a few sleight-of-hand tricks and chatted with the merchants before taking a single apple for a little girl. She took it gratefully and walked off with it. I thought I could walk off, proud of what I'd done for her, but the guards had seen me. I knew what they did to people who were caught stealing so I ran off, hoping I could get home before they caught me. I wasn't nearly as fast then as I am now.

"As we ran I stumbled through and over the merchant stands and banged through the shoppers. I bounded over a jewel stand, sending the rubies and emeralds everywhere. I'm pretty sure I started a riot over the jewels everywhere. I felt terrible but I was too afraid to stop to help. I smashed through a clothing stand too, desperate to get back to my house. The guards were getting angrier since I wasn't stopping for them. I was just a few yards away from my house when I was caught. I wish you could have felt how fast and hard my heart was racing.

"Jalil was the guard who ended up catching me. He knew me from all the times I'd wandered the market and immediately let me go. When he snapped at me, asking what the hell I was doing, I sheepishly explained it to him. He wasn't happy with what I had done and how he had almost hurt me but he let me go with the promise I would never do it again. Naturally, that was a lie. Over the years I've gotten better and better and they stopped catching me. I drive them insane but they do get a kick out of it, whether or not they'll admit it," I explained.

Ardeth stared at me for a long time without saying anything. I blushed as I tried to avoid his stare, feeling a little embarrassed and worried that Ardeth would think my reasoning was silly. A few minutes passed before he spoke. "That is perhaps the noblest explanation I have ever heard for why someone is a thief."

A flood of relief shot through me. "Thank you. I think," I added, laughing.

We both laughed. "It was meant as a compliment," Ardeth said. "How did you become as quick as you are now?"

Lots of near heart-attacks from the guards catching me and threatening to tell my parents... I giggled, figuring I would save that story for later. "Practice," I explained simply. Ardeth laughed. "My turn. You're not a local to Cairo, I know that much." Ardeth nodded. "Where are you from?"

"The desert," Ardeth answered, just as simple as I had.

"That narrows it down," I commented dryly.

Ardeth chuckled. "Far from here."

"That doesn't make it any narrower."

"There aren't any landmarks I could give you."

There was no way he lived in the middle of nowhere, was there? Either way, I could tell he wasn't interested in explaining any further, so I nodded slowly. "Have you always lived there?" I asked.

"Yes," Ardeth said. "We are semi-nomadic but we have our settlement that never moves."

"How often do you come to Cairo?" I asked carefully.

Ardeth thought on it for a moment. "This is only the third time I have been to Cairo."

He was at least my age, likely a few years older, but he had only been to Cairo three times in his life. I frowned at his answer. It sounded like he wouldn't be returning to Cairo for years. "What do you come for?" I asked.

"It depends. We usually come to bring news."

"Of?"

"What is happening within our people."

If there was one thing I had learned from Ardeth in our brief time together, it was that he didn't explain more than necessary. I hummed quietly and watched him out of the corner of my eyes as we walked. His answers weren't in-depth but I didn't need to know them. "What do you do?" I asked Ardeth. He looked very hesitant to explain himself. "It's not a story for a second meeting, is it?"

"No," Ardeth confirmed.

Perhaps there was something to do with his people he wasn't comfortable talking with me about. "Well, I know very little about you, Ardeth, and most people would probably think I was insane, but you saved my life and haven't given me any reason to be afraid of you. I'll trust that you have a good reason not to explain," I said, hoping I wasn't making a terrible mistake.

Ardeth smiled. "I truly appreciate that, Renata."

We all had things about ourselves we didn't trust to tell others right away. It added an air of mystery. "I've known these people all my life. I know them better than I care to admit. It's kind of nice to meet someone with a little bit of mystery," I told him.

Ardeth still looked happy with my insistence that I didn't need his entire story. "I'm glad you feel that way."

"Does anyone outside of your people know what you do?" I asked curiously.

"No."

"Would you ever tell anyone outside of them?"

Judging by the knowing look on his face, Ardeth had already figured out that I was baiting him to see if he would eventually tell me what his life was like. "It would be forbidden," Ardeth said regretfully.

"Wow," I mumbled. His people must have been fascinating given the chance to get to know them. "Do the people in your…"

"Tribe," Ardeth finished.

"Tribe, thank you. Do the people in your tribe normally come to Cairo?"

Ardeth shook his head. "No. We do not frequent Cairo," he explained. I tried to hide my disappointment. This would likely be the only time I would ever see Ardeth. "Most members of my tribe never leave the desert."

"Why have you?" I asked.

We didn't need to talk about what he was doing in Cairo, but I was curious why it was he who had come. "My father is the chieftain," Ardeth explained. I raised an eyebrow. He was essentially royalty to his people. "When he is unable to travel or unwell, I journey for him."

"Here I was thinking I had a lot to live up to," I teased, making Ardeth chuckle softly. My parents were reasonably famous archaeologists, but I wasn't going to have to take over an entire group of people. "Will you take over the tribe one day?"

Ardeth nodded. "Yes, eventually."

His voice had been oddly emotionless. "You don't sound thrilled about that," I commented.

Ardeth didn't nod but it did look like he agreed with me. "It is a large burden."

"I suppose you can't tell them you don't want it?"

Ardeth shook his head. "It does not work that way. We are all sworn by an oath that we must follow," he explained. I was curious about what that oath was but I knew he wouldn't tell me. "When the time comes, I will be named chieftain."

"Are you okay with that?" I asked cautiously.

Ardeth gave me a blank stare as I arched my eyebrow. "I've never thought about whether or not I was okay with it," he admitted. "I don't have a choice. I must be okay with it."

It seemed so controlling to me. There was nothing okay with the way his people ran his life. The only good thing was that it showed me that I wasn't the only one with something I would have to prove before the end of my young adulthood. I smiled at Ardeth, shrugging my shoulders in a way that I hoped looked careless. "Well, if you ever want to be just another passing name in the breeze, come see me," I said.

Ardeth smiled. "I intend to."

My heart gave a pathetic flutter. "Are you here alone?" I asked, trying to distract myself.

There was the slightest chance that this wasn't the last time I would see Ardeth. "This time, I am," he said.

Intriguing. I tried to suppress a smile. "Do you or your people normally come alone?" I asked.

Ardeth thought about it for a moment. "It depends. If we have a meeting to attend we come in small groups. To deliver news, it is typically only one person who comes," he explained.

"Do you like living in your home?" I asked, changing topics slightly.

"It is the only place I've ever known," Ardeth half-answered.

"Come out here more often. You can get to know Cairo," I half-teased.

Ardeth hesitated a moment before saying, "Perhaps I have a reason now."

My heart fluttered again. I would be perfectly happy to accept that I was the reason he wanted to come back to Cairo. I smiled at him, a little embarrassed but mostly pleased. "Perhaps," I replied, determined to change the subject until I had a better answer to his previous comment. "Come on. I'll show you around the marketplace."

Ardeth smiled. "Thank you."

We chatted back and forth about our lives as we wandered through the marketplace. We didn't say much in-depth about either one of our lives, but we did have some nice conversation. I pointed out my favorite stands and talked about those who I knew well. I even motioned to the guards from our chase yesterday as we passed them, laughing as they shot me strange looks. They all looked at Ardeth closely as we passed. I blushed, knowing what they were thinking right now. They were wondering if I was finally getting that possible romance they all liked to talk about so much.

But that was a silly thought. There was nothing more to our relationship than the fact that we were two people from extraordinarily different worlds who enjoyed learning about the others. I did like Ardeth. He was nice and interesting to talk to. He was more mature than anyone else I had ever met, but he fascinated me. It helped that he was extremely attractive. More than anyone else I had ever known. Even though all he wore were long black robes that covered up almost every part of him. I blushed, embarrassed as a passing thought reminded me that it left more to the imagination.

As we wandered through the merchant stands, Ardeth and I did chat a little bit about ourselves. I mentioned that I was an only child (my parents' choice) though I would have loved to have siblings. Ardeth responded by telling me that he had two younger brothers, both of whom he loved. I smiled at his clear fondness for his brothers, telling him that it made me want them even more. He had jokingly offered to let me have them if I ever wanted. I liked hearing him make a joke. It made him seem a little closer to his actual age.

Hours ended up passing before Ardeth and I made our way back close to where we had started in the marketplace this morning. I was holding up the ends of my dress, stumbling over the dirt streets as I wasn't used to wearing something that kept me so covered and my movements so constricted. At one point, my foot got caught up and I stumbled right over where the cobblestone streets met the dirt road. Ardeth moved faster than I'd expected him to as he reached out and caught me before I could hit the ground, keeping his arm over my back until I could regain my footing.

It took me a few seconds to regain my balance. "Thank you," I told him awkwardly.

"You're welcome," Ardeth said, looking unbothered by my clumsiness.

Once I was sure I wouldn't fall flat on my face when Ardeth released me, I laughed awkwardly and pulled out of his grasp. He was polite enough to let me go while keeping his arms mostly at bay. "Those are good reflexes you've got there," I commented stupidly.

Ardeth laughed. "I have to have them."

He was the best swordsman I'd ever met (not that I'd met many) and was the quickest runner I knew other than myself. "Well, I noticed yesterday. I don't know anyone who could run the way I do without any training," I said. It dawned on me briefly that he likely served as some kind of protector in his tribe. "You must have a hell of a job back with your tribe."

Ardeth chuckled again. "Nothing quite like yesterday, but we do have our dangers to face in the desert."

"Venomous snakes?" I offered.

Ardeth smiled. "Something like that."

It was probably something much more dangerous, but we could start with that thought. I smiled at Ardeth as I looked up, noticing that the sun was already beginning to set. "Do you happen to have the time?" I asked him curiously.

Ardeth shook his head. "No, but I would guess it to be about four o'clock."

"Shit."

"Is everything all right?"

Mom was destined to kill me if I didn't get what she'd asked me for yesterday. "My mother sent me to go get cumin yesterday. That's why I was in the market in the first place. But I got distracted and never picked it up. I told her I would get it today and it's now been hours and I still haven't gotten it. I need to go," I told him. I turned back toward the spice stand but made no move to walk away from Ardeth. For his part, neither did he. We didn't want to leave the other's company. So, I decided to be a little bold. "Do you want to tag along?"

Ardeth looked very pleased with my offer. "If you don't mind."

"Not at all," I said, just as pleased that he had accepted. "Come on, then."

Without giving myself a moment to think about it, I took Ardeth's arm and pulled him to follow me. He walked just slightly behind me as we headed through the crowded marketplace toward the spice stand on the other end. Ardeth and I chitchatted idly as we walked around. We talked about meaningless things like the weather back in my hometown and the things about the United States I did miss. I got a good laugh out of telling him that the one thing I missed was the fast food I could get when I visited the United States.

"What is fast food?" Ardeth asked.

Right. I'd almost forgotten that there was no way he would have ever tried it before if he lived in the middle of the desert. "Oh, I've never had to explain it to anyone before," I said, trying to think of a way to describe the food. "It's a type of mass-produced food with a strong priority placed on the speed of service rather than quality or appearance."

Ardeth's dark brows knitted in confusion. "It sounds terrible," he commented.

I laughed. "It is."

"So, why do you eat it?"

"Honestly, I don't know. It's cheap and greasy and easy to eat."

Now that I was trying to explain it, I realized just how disgusting fast food was. "It still sounds terrible," Ardeth said.

I laughed again. "Alright, I digress, it's terrible. But it's still kind of fun."

"Ren."

Ardeth was still laughing as we wandered up to the spice stand. I smiled at the owner, who was giving me a suspicious smile. "Hello, Mahmud," I replied.

"Come to make another scene?" Mahmud asked.

"You heard about that, huh?" I asked bashfully.

Mahmud rolled his eyes. "Everyone heard about that, Ren. They were cleaning up your mess for most of the morning."

"Well, I offered to help clean up!" I barked.

Mahmud didn't look impressed with my offer. "Hmm..." The blush returned to my cheeks as Mahmud looked over at Ardeth, giving him a long stare. My cheeks warmed even more as he looked back at me. Ardeth would be the talk of the marketplace within hours. "I see you've gotten yourself a partner," Mahmud commented.

"He's just a..." I stopped speaking when I realized that I wasn't sure I could call Ardeth a friend. We didn't know each other that well, after all. "This is Ardeth," I said, introducing him the only way I knew how.

"Ardeth," Mahmud said, nodding at him. Ardeth replied with the slight bow of his head. "You'll want to steer clear of this one."

"Mahmud!" I barked.

"She'll ruin your life, trust me," Mahmud told Ardeth, still ignoring me.

"Mahmud!" I repeated. Mahmud still looked unbothered by my barking at him. He had a fair point but he didn't need to potentially ruin my first chance at a new friendship in a long time. "Damn you. You're only getting half of what you're asking for with the bottle of cumin."

Thankfully, Mahmud hadn't made me sound like a complete psychopath as Ardeth was smiling at our banter. I handed Mahmud the coins for the bottle of cumin but he pushed it back toward me. "Take it. I've been meaning to bring it by your house for a while anyway. Your mother has always been good about bringing by her pies for the kids," Mahmud offered.

I reached down and grabbed the bottle of cumin off the counter, slipping the coins back into my purse. "Thank you, even if you're an ass," I told Mahmud dryly.

"Watch that mouth, Ren. It will get you in trouble," Mahmud warned me.

Not a day went by that I didn't get in trouble. "Everything gets me in trouble, Mahmud. I'm used to it," I told him. We smiled at each other as I waved goodbye and took Ardeth's arm again, pulling him with me back toward my house. Once we were out of earshot, I spoke to Ardeth again. "I'm sorry about him. They all like to mess with me. I guess I understand if any kind of relationship with me seems a little daunting."

But Ardeth looked undaunted. "I do believe I will take the risk."

My heart fluttered slightly. "That's good to hear."

"Should we get you home?" Ardeth offered.

"Unfortunately, I think it's time," I groaned.

Ardeth and I smiled at each other as we headed back toward my house. We only spoke a little bit about the more mundane things in life like the weather and the places around Cairo that I loved. It was a nice and quiet conversation. It was a conversation that would have normally been extremely boring but something about the way Ardeth spoke was fascinating. I was almost disappointed when we walked up to my street. Hours had passed since Ardeth and I met in the marketplace, but I was still disappointed that it was time to leave each other's company.

Unlike yesterday, I wasn't afraid to bring him to my home. "Well, I think I can trust you're not going to come and murder me in my sleep, so I can tell you where I live," I said. Ardeth laughed quietly as I pointed to the end of the street. "That's me over there. It's just the three of us."

Ardeth nodded. "Can I ever come to visit you?"

"I hope you will," I said truthfully. Ardeth nodded, giving me a small smile. "I would love to hang out here with you for a while but my mother will kill me if I don't get this cumin to her before she's ready to make dinner."

Ardeth inclined his head respectfully. "Of course. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Will you be here tomorrow?" I asked curiously.

"I will be here for a few more days," Ardeth said.

It seemed that I was going to be in luck for the next few days. "Then I would say your chances are probably pretty good that you'll see me again, considering our past luck," I teased.

Ardeth smiled. "Goodnight, Renata."

"Goodnight, Ardeth," I said.

We smiled at each other as I turned away from him and headed back toward my house. It only took a second for me to realize that Ardeth was watching me as I wandered toward my front door. He wouldn't leave until he was sure that I got inside safe. The thought warmed my heart. Most men wouldn't care. Without a kiss goodbye, they would have left me without a second glance back. It had happened to me several times before. I turned back at Ardeth and nodded, giving him a smile he responded to. I then slipped into my house without a second look back.

As the door shut behind me, I smiled stupidly at the floor. Unfortunately, my happiness didn't last long. My parents were already waiting for me. It wiped the smile right off my face. "I think you've broken a record. Six hours to get cumin?" my mother snapped.

"Look at what I'm wearing!" I snapped, pulling the fabric away from my body. "Mara stopped me."

My mother gave me an extremely unconvinced look. "Six hours to get fitted for a dress?"

"Well, look at it!" I huffed.

She looked no more convinced. My mother knew as well as I did that the dress I was wearing took only a few minutes to fit on someone. "That's one of the simplest designs for a dress I've ever seen," my mother said. My father now looked interested in the conversation so I decided to give my mother a pleading look to get her to stop asking questions. She let out a deep breath and smiled. "But it is lovely. It looks very nice on you."

"Thank you," I said bashfully.

"That's a nice dress, Ren," my father said, looking up from his paper to notice my attire.

"Thanks," I said.

"You must have drawn some eyes wearing that," my mother teased.

"Maybe a few," I mumbled.

Over the day, I had noticed a few men's eyes follow me through the streets. It had happened before but I'd never cared enough to take note. I did blush though as I realized that there was only one person I cared about noticing my dress today. I barely knew Ardeth, but I genuinely liked him and had enjoyed the time we spent together. I was extremely attracted to him. It was a dangerous game I was going to be risking playing but I didn't mind. I liked having a little bit of danger.

"Anyone that matters?" my mother asked quietly as my father passed.

"I'm not sure yet," I muttered.

"That sounds promising," she teased.

"We'll see," I said.

"Well, take it from someone who knows what it's like to find a possible romance," my mother said. I nodded for her to continue as she ran a hand through a strand of my hair. "That kind of smile doesn't pop up just because you've met a new friend."

I forced myself to wipe the smile off my face. "We don't know each other that well."

"Yet he's still gotten you to smile like that," my mother said, nudging my cheeks. I blushed again and tried to force the smile off my face. "Don't. I like that smile."

"When's dinner going to be ready?" I asked, desperate to change the topic.

"When you tell me who your new friend is," my mother teased.

"Mom!" I barked.

"Fine," she huffed, backing away from me. "We'll get there."

Discussing romance with my parents wasn't something I had much practice in. I giggled as my mother wandered back into the kitchen and continued making dinner. She snatched the cumin for me, still bothered by how long it had taken me to get it. My father stood behind us as I watched my mother cook. He remained mostly silent, only occasionally commenting. He was as good a cook as I was. I was very relieved that my mother didn't mention my budding relationship with Ardeth. My father would never let the topic drop.

As we ate dinner at the dining room table that night, I found myself only half-invested in the conversation, nowhere near as chatty as I normally was. Instead, I spent the meal thinking about how Ardeth had asked me if we could spend tomorrow together as well. He wanted to see me as much as I wanted to see him. But was it just because he thought I was strange? Was it because I wasn't someone he'd known forever? Could it have been a budding relationship? I wasn't sure, but for the first time in my life, I wanted to find out.

When I woke up the next morning, I rose from my bed immediately and opened my window to let in the cool breeze. After sitting around the fire with my parents chatting about their ideas of where King Tutankhamen's Tomb was, I had gone to sleep early, partially to stop my thoughts of Ardeth. I smiled at the chilly air and breathed it in for a while before beginning to get ready for the day. I decided to leave my hair down around my shoulders today as I put on a thin tank top and a tighter pair of cargo pants. It would be brutally hot by midday.

Once I was changed, I headed downstairs and smiled at my mother. She was in her usual spot first thing in the morning. My father was nowhere to be found. My mother was at the kitchen counter pouring over her Ancient Egyptology book. She was completely absorbed in King Tutankhamen's section of the book. I knew it was driving my parents insane that they couldn't find it. I smiled at her angry muttering as I walked up to her, taking the coffee mug that had been left out for me in the meantime.

"Planning your next dig?" I asked, planting myself next to her.

My mother glanced up and smiled at my outfit choice. "That's an interesting choice of wardrobe."

I self-consciously pulled up the neckline of my shirt, suddenly embarrassed by my clothing. "Stop it," I muttered.

She laughed, going back to her work. "Trying to find where King Tutankhamen may have been buried. We've had so many dead ends lately."

"Have you thought about going to ask Terrence if he's gotten any reliable word?" I offered.

"We spoke last week and he'd heard nothing."

"Damn. Don't worry, you'll find it," I said as reassuringly as I possibly could. "Where's Dad?"

"He's out doing some shopping. He should be back a little later."

"Okay."

"Do you have any plans for the day, love?" my mother asked.

Did I ever have a plan? Without a proper job or professional schooling to worry about, I usually just did whatever came my way. "I was thinking about heading to the Museum of Antiquities for a while. It's been a few days since I've seen Terrence," I said. I hadn't seen Terrence since the first day my parents had been gone. "Maybe I'll ask him about the tomb."

My mother laughed. "That poor man."

"What do you mean?" I teased.

We grinned at each other as I stepped back. "Tell him we said hello," my mother called after me.

"I will," I said.

"Do you want something to eat before you leave?" my mother asked.

"Can I have the toast?" I asked, spotting it on the counter.

"Here you are," she said, handing it over.

"Thanks, Mom. Love you."

"You as well, dear. Be careful."

"Always!"

She knew as well as I did that I was never careful, but I would always promise that I'd at least try and be careful. Shoveling the toast down my throat as quickly as possible, I wandered outside and headed straight toward the marketplace. The Museum of Antiquities was on the other side of the marketplace just past the first street. I hummed quietly to myself as I walked, kicking up the dust that gathered around my feet. I wandered past Alia's store and smiled at the owner, glad to see that her son wasn't with her today.

"Good morning, Alia," I chirped.

She smiled. "Any plans today?"

"I think I’ll head to the museum for a bit," I told her.

"So, I can put out my easily breakable items today, then?" Alia teased.

I chuckled at her. "I do believe you're safe for today. Tell Hakim I said hello!"

"I will," Alia promised.

The incident with Hakim would be forgotten about soon. Either that or I would punch him straight in the face the next time he brought it up. That would likely be how it went since Hakim loved to make fun of me. I continued through the marketplace before arriving at the main street that ran past the docks. I wandered into the crowd, trying to push my way through the crowds of tourists. It was still in season and the docks were flooded with people. I saw a few men giving me the eye as I worked hard to ignore them. I wasn't interested in any of these men.

Quickly darting past a man who appeared to be a profitable businessman who looked intent on cornering me in a conversation, I turned up on the main street and headed toward the Museum of Antiquities. That wasn't a conversation I wanted to get into. I doubted I would have enjoyed a talk with him. Instead, I would chat with Terrence. I knew he wouldn't be happy to see me (he usually wasn't) but I didn't mind. He was fun to mess with and did occasionally share his knowledge with me. I wandered inside and saw that there was a decent crowd today. It appeared to be mostly tourists.

I smiled as a few younger children passed in front of me as I headed toward the back of the museum down the hallways that were usually off-limits. I had known Terrence since I was a child and had always enjoyed spending time in his museum. He didn't particularly like my company but did agree that I was a good worker. I helped out with the antiquities in the summer when Terrence needed help to control the tourists. I looked at his discoveries, recorded them, and even helped reorganize the library on occasion. I would go through his files and clean whatever needed it.

Despite his insistence that I was the worst child he'd ever met, I knew Terrence liked me far more than he let on. He wasn't the friendliest person in the first place, but he did have his moments. When I worked for him in the summer he paid me double what he would have been justified to pay me. It was well over what he paid any of the rest of his employees, including the full-time employees who had been with him for years. It was one of the few ways I had always known he liked me.

As I arrived at his wooden door, I barged into Terrence's office without knocking. He jumped back from his desk in surprise. "Good morning, Terrence!" I chirped happily.

Terrence was quick to scowl at me. "Oh, good, you're back."

He was always so sweet to me. Terrence would never say anything explicitly rude in front of my parents, but he had certainly never minced words in front of them. They knew his general distaste for me. I smiled at Terrence as I wandered toward his desk. My parents had essentially asked Terrence to take me under his wing when I was little. He had been blunt with me since day one, annoyed that I liked to talk far too much and always managed to get myself into messes. But I knew that his comments were all in good fun. I saw that fondness in his eyes sometimes.

"I know you're always thrilled to see me," I chirped.

"Walking away, yes," Terrence replied.

"What are you doing today?"

"Working."

"Anything more interesting?"

"Miss Adams, I would very much appreciate you leaving," Terrence groaned.

Someone had to be willing to spend some time with me today. "Oh, come on! I'm bored," I groaned, leaning over his desk. Perhaps he would allow me to work today. "You don't have anything to give me?"

Terrence pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why can you not go on dates like a normal woman your age?"

"Sounds boring. Most of the men here are useless anyway," I grumbled.

Terrence's lips twitched slightly. "So, you've instead decided to bother me?"

"Pretty much," I answered bluntly. He may not have loved me but he had taught me a lot since we'd met. "Mom's upset that they've still found no trace of King Tutankhamen’s tomb. Have you heard anything?"

"Not of late. Your mother will be the first person I go to when I do hear something."

"Have you gotten anything interesting in?"

"Always, but it hasn't been put out on the floor yet."

Mysterious. My eyebrow quirked. "What is it?" I asked.

"Oh, no. I know if I tell you, it will end up broken or, at the very least, fiddled with," Terrence growled.

"When's the last time I broke something of yours?"

While I never broke anything of Terrence's, I had come close several times. "No, Miss Adams. Go bother someone else," Terrence said, gently pushing me toward the door to his office. "You can see what's on display with everyone else when I have it out next week."

"Next week? You always let me see the new exhibits early!" I said.

"I do not! I tell you to go away and you sneak back to see them anyway."

Well, that was true. "That's fair."

"Unless you're here to volunteer to sweep the floor, I must ask you to leave," Terrence said.

"I am not sweeping your floor."

"Then it's time to go, I'm afraid."

" Oh, I haven't even been that annoying this time!"

"I have a meeting I must prepare for. Out of my office," Terrence snapped.

"But we've barely chatted, Terry," I teased.

"Do not call me that."

"You know you love it."

"Out!" Terrence shouted, pushing me toward the door. "How your parents deal with you is beyond me."

"Me, too," I said. Terrence's lips twitched up with the threat of a smile. "Come on! Just smile at one of my jokes."

"Out!" Terrence repeated. "Before I ban you for a year."

"You've been threatening that since I was eight. You don't mean it," I rebutted. Terrence shot me a nasty scowl and looked like he was about to throw the bookend on his desk at my head. "Okay, point taken. I'll come back later."

"Please, don't," Terrence muttered.

If nothing else, coming to see Terrence always amused me though it drove him nuts. I smiled at Terrence's annoyance as I walked out of his office and headed back through the halls. I was thinking about either heading to the marketplace or wandering through Terrence's discoveries in the back (which I wasn't supposed to be in and he would kill me for it). But I liked to push his buttons. Plus, he might have found something interesting for me to check out. I was about to head there when I heard someone call my name.

"Renata."

There was only one person who would call me that. I turned back to the voice with a smile on my face. "Ardeth," I greeted. "I thought you were on business."

"I am. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"This is one of my favorite places to come. I've known Terrence Bey for years. He's an old family friend," I explained. Ardeth nodded understandingly. "What are you doing here? Come to see what the museum has to offer? Or, maybe you are following me."

Ardeth smiled. "I have a meeting this morning. I was hoping I would see you today."

"Oh, me too," I admitted, blushing stupidly. "Who's your meeting with?"

"Ardeth Bay," Terrence's voice called.

Bey? I looked between the men in surprise. "Are you related?" I whispered to Ardeth.

"Different spelling," Ardeth whispered back to me. I nodded in relief as Ardeth inclined his head respectfully toward Terrence. "Terrence."

"Do you two know each other?" Terrence asked curiously.

"We met a few days ago," I answered.

Terrence groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "Why have you made it your life mission for me to wish to end mine?"

He knew I wasn't that bad, he just didn't want to admit it. I laughed at Terrence's continued annoyance and leaned toward Ardeth. "He'll come around soon enough. He knows it. He's just trying to fight it," I told him.

Ardeth chuckled. "This monstrosity has been left here for hours at a time by her parents since she was barely old enough to read," Terrence told him.

"That's sweet, Terry," I mumbled.

"Get out of my museum!" Terrence yelled.

I'd officially annoyed him. I supposed I had to leave before he lost it. "Okay, fine." I turned to Ardeth and smiled. "I would say goodbye, but given our track record, I would assume ‘see you soon’ is more appropriate," I teased.

"Renata," Ardeth called as I began walking off. I turned back to him. "Are you busy today?"

"No," I answered.

He looked a little awkward as he asked, "Will you wait?"

"Sure. I'll wander around for a while," I said happily.

"Thank you," Ardeth said.

There had to be something around here that I could get into while he and Terrence spoke. As Ardeth was motioned inside Terrence's office, the older man hung back for a moment and watched me. I swallowed thickly at the curious look on his face. His gaze dropped to stare at what I was wearing and he narrowed his eyes. I blushed slightly and turned to head back to the main section of the museum. I didn't want Terrence to get involved with my strangely progressing relationship with Ardeth too.

"Do your parents know that you two know each other?" Terrence asked me.

"No," I answered.

"Hmm…"

"Is something wrong?" I asked suspiciously.

"I'm not sure yet," Terrence answered.

That was strange. I wanted to say something to him but Terrence turned and walked off without another word, leaving me stunned beyond belief. I stood in front of Terrence's door for a few minutes, unable to move from surprise. What was so wrong with Ardeth that he put so many other people on edge? He hadn't put me on edge once since we'd met. I let out a deep breath as I wandered back into the main section of the museum and found myself standing in front of a painting of Anubis, not reading the plaque but instead thinking about Ardeth.

The other's suspicion of Ardeth didn't make sense to me. I didn't understand what was making them so nervous. Nothing about him had ever set off my warning bells. He was the only person I could ever remember trying to save me from the guards. He was the only person to do so successfully. He had run off with me at my prompting. He had been perfectly respectable around me since we'd met. But now even Terrence had expressed some discomfort at our growing relationship. Why? Just because he wasn't a traditional choice for a suitor?

Because he wasn't one of those businessmen who wandered the port in their fitted suits? "Renata."

Ardeth's interruption was a welcome surprise. I didn't want to think about our friendship any longer. I glanced up at him and noticed that the clock on the wall behind him said that only ten minutes had passed. "Quick meeting," I commented as he walked up to my side.

"They are rarely long," Ardeth explained.

"If your communication is that short, why not just send a letter?" I asked curiously.

"Some news is better-delivered face-to-face," Ardeth said.

"That sounds menacing," I giggled.

Ardeth smiled. "It's good to get away from home for a while, too."

"That sounds more likely," I told him. "As much as I love my parents, I would love the chance to get out on my own for a few days. The most I get is when they go back to the United States for a few days and I stay behind."

"Why would you stay behind when your parents go to visit your home?" Ardeth asked curiously.

"Cairo is my home," I responded immediately. It was easy to notice the fond smile on Ardeth's face. "Some part of me will always love the United States and everyone in it, but this is the place I've always called home."

"You don't plan on ever returning?"

"To visit, sure. But to live there? I don't think so. There's something about Egypt. Would you ever leave?"

"I would never be given that choice."

The more I spoke with Ardeth the more I realized how controlled his life was. "Everyone should have a choice," I said sadly.

"Just because we should have a choice doesn't necessarily mean we do."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty," Ardeth answered. It was good to know that we were close in age. "Why?"

"Because you speak like you're one hundred," I teased.

"Is that a good thing?"

"It's an interesting thing. I like interesting."

A smile turned up on Ardeth's face. "You surprise me as well."

"Do I?"

"You do. You speak far more openly than anyone I've ever met before; man or woman," Ardeth explained.

It was exactly what my parents were always telling me would end up getting me in trouble. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you have to be outspoken no matter who you are if you want to be heard in life. But if you're a woman, you need to be even louder. I don't want people to know me because my husband is successful. I want them to know my name because I am," I explained.

Another fond smile appeared on Ardeth's face. I was glad that he didn't think I was too bold in my aspirations. "The world would be a very different place if more people were like you," Ardeth said.

"One day more people will be," I said hopefully.

"I hope so," Ardeth said. We nodded at each other as we began wandering through the exhibits. "I've never had a friend like you before."

I smiled, glad he had said it first. "Is that what we are? Friends?"

Ardeth nodded. "I consider you a friend."

We had determined that we were friends but I knew less about Ardeth than I did about anyone else I was friends with. "So do I, but friends know more about each other than their first and last names and the vague locations of their homes," I teased him.

Ardeth nodded understandingly. "What do you want to know?"

"I'm giving you a fair warning, I'm nosy," I said.

"How much could you possibly have to ask?" Ardeth chuckled.

More than you'll care to answer. "Well, if you come to Cairo as rarely as you say, it means that on your next visit we shouldn't need to get any of the 'getting to know each other' phase of the friendship out of the way. We should just be excited to see each other again," I told him.

Ardeth laughed. "That is fair. If I will get the same opportunity, you may ask what you'd like."

"You will. Birthday?" I began easily.

"February 3rd, 1898."

"Favorite food?"

"My mother's basbousa."

"Most embarrassing moment?"

Honestly, I was more curious if he would answer it. Ardeth threw back his head in laughter. "When I was fourteen, I stole some of my father's gin supply with my brothers. We drank it without realizing the effects and when we were called out to go on a riding mission with the elders, I immediately fell out of the saddle and into the sand. Someone must have had to carry me back. I didn't wake until the next morning," Ardeth explained.

It was a much better embarrassing moment than I had. I threw my head back in laughter, grabbing onto his arm to stabilize myself as I stumbled over a crack in the ground. "For as long as we end up knowing each other, I'll never forget that," I promised.

"I had a feeling that would happen," Ardeth chuckled.

"Biggest fear?" I continued.

"Failing to uphold my tribe's oath."

That was depressing. "Where would you like to travel?"

"I don't suppose I've ever thought about it."

"Something to think about," I teased. He smiled back at me. "What do your tattoos mean?"

"They spell out the name of an Ancient Egyptian."

My gaze followed over his cheekbones and forehead. They didn't spell out a name I was familiar with, not that my Ancient Egyptian was perfect. "Which one? I've never seen those symbols together," I said. Ardeth hesitated as we stared at each other. I held up my hands in defeat. "Okay, not that close yet. I get it." He smiled gratefully at me. "Does everyone in your tribe have them?"

"The men," Ardeth answered.

"Do the women?"

"On their hands."

"Do you have any others?"

"I do."

"Where?" I asked without thinking. Ardeth's head snapped over to me, surprised by the bluntness of my statement. I blushed at my stupid question. "Sorry, I didn’t think about that before I said it. I told you I was nosy."

Ardeth laughed. "They are mostly on my chest."

"Did they hurt?" I asked curiously.

"They stung but the discomfort is brief."

"Favorite hobby?"

It was the only answer that took Ardeth a moment. He thought about it before shaking his head. "I do not believe I have a hobby."

"Nothing?" I asked, shocked.

"Can I count coming to see you?" Ardeth asked.

I smiled bashfully. "Yeah. Who do you admire most in the world?"

"My father. He's devoted his entire life to my people and our cause."

"Just like you will one day?"

"Yes."

"Do you own any other clothes?" I asked bluntly.

Ardeth laughed. "These are the traditional robes of my people."

There was one other thing I wanted to know about him, but I wasn't sure if I could ask it yet. "Can I get personal?" I asked.

"If we're genuinely friends, I do believe it will get personal eventually."

"That's fair. Are you married?" I spat out.

"No."

My sigh of relief was so loud I thought Ardeth might have heard it. I was extremely relieved that he either hadn't said anything about it or didn't notice. "Are there any women in your tribe you could see yourself getting married to?" I asked.

Ardeth thought about it. "Not at the moment."

It was almost impossible to try and deflate the hope that was rising in my chest. "Are you actively looking?" I asked.

Ardeth shook his head. "There would be no point."

"What do you mean?"

"Most marriages between those of high rankings are arranged in my tribe."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"It is the way," Ardeth said.

As much as my parents would have loved for me to get married and have a family, they would never force someone on me I didn't know or love. "That doesn't bother you?" I asked. Ardeth merely stared at me. "It doesn't bother you that you don't have a say in who you spend the rest of your life with? Who you get to have a family with?"

"I have no choice in the matter. There is no point in letting it bother me," Ardeth said.

"You deserve to choose who you spend your life with," I said.

"Any woman in my tribe would be an acceptable choice."

"Acceptable?" I asked. Ardeth nodded. "That's not good enough and you know it."

"What would you want?" he asked.

What did I want when it came to romance? "I've never thought about it. Maybe I'm the wrong person to ask. But, if it were me, I would want the kind of love you only read about in stories. I want someone who would die for me and vice versa. I want someone who isn't my other half, but someone who reminds me that I'm my own person and they love that. My parents have always wanted me to marry someone who was well set up in life. But I don't care about that. Money means nothing to me. They could have nothing. It just matters to me who they are as a person. I want there to be something more than contentment with a comfy life. I want the kind of passion in a romance that you've only read about."

The moment I stopped speaking I realized I had said far too much. No man would want to hear a woman speak like that. My face burned with embarrassment as I tried to look anywhere but at Ardeth, who was staring blankly at me. I should have just shut my mouth. I hadn't only insulted the way that his people lived but I had also made myself sound like a silly little girl who only wanted an idealized romance. But it was the truth. If I was going to fall in love with someone, that was what I wanted.

Desperate to change the subject, I began laughing awkwardly. "Now that I've properly embarrassed myself -"

"You haven't," Ardeth interrupted reassuringly.

"No?"

"No," Ardeth confirmed. "I think it's beautiful that you want so much and won't settle for less. You deserve it and you will find it."

"Will you promise me something?"

"Yes."

"Please don't settle. If I deserve to find that kind of love, so do you," I told him.

Ardeth smiled sadly. "I won't have that option, Renata."

"You can if you give yourself that option."

"My options are limited."

In a sudden spurt of bravery, I said, "In your tribe, maybe. But you can find someone in the most unlikely of places."

Ardeth let out a laughing breath. "So, I see."

My sudden spurt of bravery was also a very stupid one. Women never made forward moves the way I just had. What the hell was I thinking saying something like that to him? Nothing, apparently. But maybe it would work out. Unless I was losing my mind, I saw Ardeth's eyes briefly stray away from my own to meet my mouth. Had I imagined it? I didn't think so. My legs began shaking slightly as I met Ardeth's eyes again. My little crush on him was growing quickly and our charged conversation about love hadn't helped things. 

Unwilling to think about it any longer I cleared my throat and said, "Well, I think I've been nosy enough for one day."

"Is it my turn?" Ardeth asked.

"Go ahead."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen," I answered.

Ardeth nodded. "Will -?"

"Ren," a familiar voice interrupted, stopping Ardeth's question. We both turned back to see my father standing a few meters behind us. I smiled at him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Hey, Dad," I chirped happily. "Just hanging around."

"And this is?" he asked.

It was only then that I realized my father had been looking at Ardeth the whole time. "Oh, this is Ardeth Bay. We met the other day in the marketplace. We ran into each other a while ago," I answered.

"Bay?" my father asked him. Ardeth nodded. "Those are interesting tattoos, son."

"They are symbolic to my tribe," Ardeth answered. I could see the muscles in both of their jaws clenching. The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. I looked into Ardeth's eyes and noticed that something had dawned in them. He was now nodding at my father understandingly. "William Adams."

I hadn't told him my last name, had I? "Yes," my father said.

"Renata Adams," Ardeth said, looking at me.

"Yes?" I half-said and half-asked.

"Familiar with our work, are you?" my father asked Ardeth.

"Yes," he answered.

What the hell was going on between them? I was shocked that they seemed to know each other when they should have had nothing in common. "Can I ask how you two know each other?" I asked in general.

"No, you may not," my father said, taking my arm. "We're leaving, Ren."

"What? No," I said, pulling out of his grasp. "We're in the middle of a conversation."

"That was not a request, Ren. It was an order."

"You always taught me that it was rude to walk away in the middle of a conversation. I'm not leaving."

"You don't get to argue. Come. Now."

"No!" I snapped.

My disobedience did not sit well with him. My father was seething as he said, "Get over here."

"Give me a good reason, at least," I said.

"We're not discussing this."

We were going to discuss this. I was sick of no one telling me what was so wrong with Ardeth. My father grabbed my arm again and began tugging me along behind him. Ardeth was watching us, seemingly stunned out of words. "Hey, stop!" I barked at my father, looking back at Ardeth. "I'm so sorry!"

Ardeth looked a little hesitant but took a few steps forward. "Renata -"

"You will stay the hell away from my daughter," my father snapped at him.

"Dad, stop!" I yelled.

But he wasn't listening to me. Whatever had just happened, he was furious. My father tightened his grip on me to the point where it was almost painful as he yanked me out of the museum. I was mortified by the crowd that had gathered to watch what was going on but I was even more embarrassed that my father was pulling me away from Ardeth like I was a small child. I hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to my new friend. We shared a long stare as I looked back at him. I had to turn away as my father pulled me down the staircase and I nearly fell.

The last thing I saw was Ardeth's stunned face as I nearly wound up face-first on the pavement. "Ouch! Okay, you've made your point. I'm not going to run back to him, you can let go," I snapped.

"You've always been bold, Ren, but seeing someone like him?" my father asked.

"What's wrong with him? He's nicer than anyone else I've met," I said.

"You're deluded," my father said. "That man is dangerous."

"Because he carries a sword?"

He laughed humorlessly. "Far from that."

"So, what's the problem with him?"

We stopped walking long enough for my father to give me one of the most disapproving looks I had ever seen. "You see a handsome young man with an air of mystery about him and you're immediately drawn in," he said. "I'm not surprised by that but I am surprised that you didn't think better."

"Of what? He's done nothing wrong! You just embarrassed him!"

"What do you genuinely know about that man?"

Nothing of true importance... I was a little bashful as I said, "I know he considers me a friend."

My father laughed again. "Does he, now? After knowing you for just a few hours?"

"Well, no," I mumbled.

"Is he the reason you've been out so much the past three days?" my father asked shortly.

This conversation was destined to get me in a ton of trouble. "Dad, I met him by chance a few days ago at the marketplace. He helped me out of a tight spot. There's nothing wrong with him," I attempted to defend Ardeth.

"Not that you know."

"So, tell me. What's wrong with him?" I asked. All I wanted to know was what made people so uncomfortable about Ardeth. Like everyone else, my father didn't answer me. "If I hadn't said it, would you have even bothered learning his name?"

"It doesn't matter. I know his kind," my father said. "What has he been doing with you?"

"Nothing! We've gone on a few walks together and accidentally ran into each other today."

"You are to stay away from him."

"Tell me what's wrong with him."

"You're my daughter. If I don't want you around that man, you will listen."

"That's not a reason to avoid him. That's your reason to avoid the conversation."

"We're done talking about this. You are not to see him again."

"Give me a good reason!"

"I'm your father!" he bellowed, louder than I had ever heard him speak before. I jumped as he pulled us down our street. "That's the only damn reason I need. If you know what's good for you, you will drop the conversation now."

My stomach churned with nerves. "Why can't you just tell me what's wrong with him?" I asked again, trying to be polite. "If there's genuinely something bad about him, I want to know."

"Why? I've already told you that I want you to avoid him. You're not to see him again," my father said.

"I deserve to know," I muttered.

"Drop it!"

The sudden anger in his voice was enough to make me fall silent. For now, at least. I would bring it up again later. I knew I could only push him so far before he would do something to make me regret speaking in the first place. I jumped slightly as he began pulling me toward the house again. There were very few moments in my memory that I could recall my father yelling and even fewer of those circumstances had seen him yelling at me. We reached our house a moment later and my father gently nudged me inside. My mother was waiting for us in the living room.

She jumped up from the couch the moment we entered. "What the hell was going on out there?" she asked, obviously concerned. "I could hear the two of you yelling at each other from here."

"Dad's being completely unreasonable," I muttered.

"Stop talking. Go upstairs," he snapped.

"What?" I asked.

"Upstairs, now," he repeated.

"I'm not ten, no," I said.

"What the hell is going on?" my mother asked.

"Ren has met one of Cairo's most famous visitors," my father told my mother.

Famous? My gaze shot between them. No one seemed to have any idea who Ardeth was and he'd admitted that they rarely came to Cairo. Maybe I would have to ask some of the older merchants about his people later. I wanted to know what was wrong with Ardeth and what had caused my parents' sudden terror. I glanced over at my mother who was exchanging a long look with my father. They both must have known who Ardeth and his people were. That made one of us. My mother raised her eyebrow as my father gave her a short nod.

It was at the look on my father's face that my mother's dropped. "Ren, go upstairs. I’ll call you for dinner later," she said breathlessly.

Okay, there went the hope that she would be on my side. "What?" I asked, shocked. "I thought you would see to reason -"

"Now!" my mother shouted.

"Are you kidding?" I asked.

"I'm not asking again, Ren. Upstairs," she ordered me.

"Don't bother with dinner. I'm not that hungry anyway," I snapped, knowing I was getting nowhere tonight.

"Ren -"

"Goodnight," I interrupted my father. "If you're not at least going to explain yourselves, I've got nothing left to say."

"Ren -"

"Let her go. We'll talk in the morning," my mother said.

The only way we were going to talk in the morning was if my parents were going to tell me what was so wrong about my friendship with Ardeth. It had all happened so suddenly with no explanation. It made no sense. I stared at them for a moment before turning and angrily storming up the stairs and straight into my bedroom. I slammed the door shut and wandered to my bed, dropping down on it. I was about ready to curse my parents to the high heavens when I heard them muttering on the other side of my door.

They must have been on their way to go to bed. After the earlier argument, I highly doubted either one of them was hungry. I didn't blame them. It was almost impossible to eat after having a nasty argument as we'd just had with your own family. I slowly rose from my bed hoping they wouldn't hear me and crossed my room back to my door. I pressed my ear against the wood and listened to see if I could hear any of my parents' hushed conversation about Ardeth.

"He's one of them, Martha," my father said.

One of who? "Just because he's one of them doesn't mean he's dangerous."

"For her, it does."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? My mother was silent for a moment before saying, "You're right. She may not realize now, but she can't keep seeing him."

"She has no idea what -"

Their voices were suddenly cut off as my parents closed the door to their bedroom. I tried to suppress every angry curse I knew as I was cut off from their conversation. Damn them! I wanted to know what the problem was and I had come so close to finding out. I thought about trying to sneak over to their room to attempt to hear their conversation but I knew that there would be serious hell to pay if they saw me. They would send me back stateside if they caught me trying to eavesdrop when I had been banished to my room.

Resigned to spend the rest of the night wondering what was so wrong with Ardeth, I dropped back down into my bed and stared out toward the Museum of Antiquities, remembering the last few days I'd spent with Ardeth; thinking about how much we had laughed, how he had saved me, how close we had stood, and how I felt around him as we'd spoken about our ideal romances. What could have been so wrong with a man like? All I knew was that this time, my parents must have been wrong.

A/N: So, William and Ardeth's tension with each other will be explained later on. Again, if you would like to keep track of my stories on Twitter my username is awalkerlifeforme! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks for the kudos on the story! Please let me know what you think! Until next time -A


	3. Chapter 3

Two days after my father had pulled me away from Ardeth at the Museum of Antiquities without warning or a good reason, I found myself seated on the large couch in our living room with my parents close-by. I hadn't stopped thinking about the awkward departure from Ardeth since it had happened. I was unsure of how to broach the subject of Ardeth without getting in trouble with my parents again. My parents and I hadn't had many discussions about the awkward afternoon over the last two days.

This wasn't the first time I had been in trouble; I had been yelled at by my parents many times before. When I was eight I had broken a canopic jar that was over one thousand years old. My parents had grounded me for a week for it and I had never heard my father yell so loudly. I had been warned a few times before I had broken it to not touch it while my parents weren't around but I had thought it was interesting. Naturally, I had played with it and dropped the jar on the stone floor, shattering it to a million pieces.

When I was fifteen, my parents had set me up on a date with one of their neighbor's sons from back when they had lived in the United States while the family was visiting Cairo. I had been so offended by my date telling me that I was dreaming too large for a woman without a husband to support me that I had thrown my dinner plate at his head. I had been banned from the restaurant for a year and my parents had lost a set of friends over the incident. 

This fight was different than the ones I had gotten into with my parents before. I knew that I had overreacted to my date's comment that night and I'd felt terrible that my parents had lost some good friends over my actions. I had broken a thousand-year-old canopic jar that my parents had been so proud of discovering. In those instances, I had known that I was in the wrong. I still couldn't see how I was in the wrong in my friendship with Ardeth.

Their reaction didn't make any sense to me. Ardeth had been nothing but nice to me since we had met and had given me no indication that I should have been afraid of him. I didn't understand why my parents were so against him, yet they wouldn't tell me why. If there was something genuinely dangerous about him, I wanted my parents to tell me what it was. That would only be fair. I didn't know how to ask without getting myself into more trouble, though.

My mother had woken me up early in the morning the day after I had been pulled away from Ardeth by my father after I had spent much of the night pouting over my time with him having been cut short. Even though I had tried to tell her that I wasn't in the mood to talk, she had ignored me. My mother had apologized for the prior night but had reinforced to me that I didn't understand the trouble I was getting into by knowing someone like Ardeth.

"He seemed interesting, didn't he?" Mom asked.

"He was," I huffed.

Ardeth was the most interesting person I had ever met. "Ren, I know you don't think it's fair but I need you to know that we're doing what we think is best for you," Mom said.

"How about what I think is best for me?" I asked.

"This boy -"

"What's so wrong with him?" I interrupted angrily. All I wanted was for someone to tell me what the problem was. "Is it because he's from the desert and not… civilized?"

My throat tightened as I spoke; I felt disgusting for even suggesting such a thing. "God, no," Mom said, looking as horrified as I felt. "You know we don't share your Aunt Sylvia's distaste for anyone she deems unworthy."

"So, what's wrong with him?"

"Ren, did you not notice that the man keeps secrets?"

"We all have our secrets," I countered.

She had no idea how many times I had nearly been arrested. "His secrets are dangerous," Mom shot back.

"Do you know them?" I asked curiously.

The way my mother and father had been speaking about Ardeth gave me the vague idea that they may have known him. "I've got a good idea of what they are," Mom said.

It meant that she had never met him. "Tell me," I demanded.

"I'm your mother, Ren. You may not like it but if I tell you to avoid someone, you will do so," she replied sharply.

"I'm an adult -"

"And living under our roof," Mom snapped. Well, that was a decent argument. My response died on my tongue. I was an adult but I was living under my parent's roof and abiding by their rules. I could have moved out if I didn't like it, but I didn't have the money. "Your father and I have already discussed it. You are not to see Ardeth Bay again. Trust me, if his parents saw him with you they would have had the same reaction."

"Why?" I groaned.

"His people are extremely inclusive. They rarely speak or associate with outsiders," Mom explained.

"He spoke to me," I mumbled.

To my surprise, a small smile appeared on my mother's face. "I had a feeling that you were upset for more than just losing a new potential friend," she said knowingly.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"He was handsome?" Mom asked.

"So?" I snapped.

"Take my word for it, women are attracted to dangerous men," Mom said slowly.

"He's not -"

"He is, Ren."

"But you don't know him!" I yelled.

My outburst didn't seem to bother her. "If we're being fair, you don't know him either. Not nearly as well as you seem to think you do," Mom pointed out. I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to admit it. "All of his people are dangerous. I'm sure this man is very handsome, he has an air of mystery about him, and he's very polite to you. If it came down to it, though, you would see a side of him I bet you wouldn't be as fond of."

"I don't get it," I admitted.

"Best you don't. We'll find you someone better suited," Mom said happily.

"I'm not in the mood to go on a date and not on one you pick out," I said rudely.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mom asked.

"You have awful taste in men," I said.

"Ren!"

I knew from the shock in her voice that she thought I was talking about my father. "I didn't mean Dad! I meant with the guys you've set me up with. Notice they never get second dates," I told her.

"Do you ever give them a chance for a second date?" Mom asked.

"They don't deserve it," I told her honestly. The last thing I wanted was to continue a relationship with any of my parents' poor choices. Mom scowled at me as I flushed slightly. "I'm sorry, I'm just upset you won't tell me who he is."

"He won't tell you either," Mom said.

"You're my mother! You should at least give me a good reason," I growled.

It wasn't fair that they were just telling me to stay away from him with no reason why. "His people care for no one but themselves. He would leave you in an instant. You're a curious young woman with a good heart and an inclination for adventure, but he's not worth it. He's not," Mom insisted.

"You've met some of his people, then?" I asked slowly.

"Yes," Mom admitted.

"Who are they?"

"Ren," Mom said chidingly. I let out a deep breath. "It doesn't matter. You're not going to see him again. Drop it, please. Come downstairs and let's have breakfast."

"Okay," I said.

As I had known that there was no point arguing with her when she wouldn't see to reason, I had dropped the issue with my parents and had apologized for disrespecting them. They had forgiven me but the day had still been extremely awkward. I had spent most of that day in my bedroom with the door open as I poured over every Egyptology book that I could find. I was determined to find out who Ardeth's people were and whether or not they were truly dangerous.

After I had spent hours pouring over my books, I had still found nothing. There was no indication of a native tribe that I was positive was Ardeth's. For someone my parents seemed to know so well, there was no other trace of Ardeth's people. There were plenty of native tribes that lived in the Egyptian deserts but none of them had tattoos resembling Ardeth's. I was disappointed that I was getting nowhere when I decided to turn my attention to Ardeth's tattoos. 

The last time we were together, Ardeth had said that his tattoos represented an Ancient Egyptian but he hadn't told me which one. I had gone through my books again but the symbols on Ardeth's face didn't line up with anything I recognized from my time studying Ancient Egyptian. The letters that strung together as I went over the symbols were nonsensical. Perhaps it was a different spelling or pronunciation of something I did know. Eventually, I gave up in frustration. Ardeth would need to explain it to me.

Even after a day-and-a-half of near-constant searching, I came up with nothing conclusive about who Ardeth was. Whatever my parents knew about Ardeth's tribe was likely something they had gathered from firsthand experience or they had heard it from someone else. I was annoyed and exasperated but I wasn't going to give up. I was going to find out what the supposed problem was with Ardeth's tribe, no matter how many people I had to ask.

I didn't know what to do with myself now. I wanted to go to my parents and ask them what the problem was with Ardeth and his people but I knew they wouldn't respond and I would get myself in even more trouble. I wanted to see if I could find Ardeth, but I was sure he wanted nothing to do with me now. Plus, there was a good chance that he was already back in the desert. It had been two days since we'd last seen each other after all, and it seemed from the beginning that he wouldn't stay in Cairo long.

It took me a long time to motivate myself to get up the following morning. I was bored with hiding out in my room. I wanted to do something today. I was used to being out and about doing different things every day. I dressed in my usual attire and tied my hair up into a long ponytail. I was determined to get out and do something today. Maybe I would bother the guards or I could see if I could harass Terence into telling me something about Ardeth's tribe since they had appeared to be friendly.

Once I was ready, I headed downstairs and noticed that my parents appeared to be on their way out. "Good morning," I greeted.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Mom replied.

"Sleep well?" Dad asked.

"Yeah. Did you two?" I asked.

"I would have slept better if your mother had stopped snoring," Dad teased.

Mom's jaw dropped open. I chuckled as she smacked my father. I loved my parents, as much as they drove me insane. "Oh, shut up," Mom growled, looking back at me. "I left you some breakfast on the counter."

"Oh, thank you," I said, walking over to the counter to grab myself breakfast. "You two look like you're headed out somewhere."

"We are," Dad said.

"We're heading to a meeting with Jeffrey and Bernard," Mom explained.

"Oh, right. I forgot that you two had that appointment."

"Do you remember them from the White Lady dig?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, I do," I said.

Jeffrey and Bernard were two of my parent's closest friends. I had known both of them for a long time. Jeffrey was a specialist studying cave paintings who had been called in to help with the White Lady dig early on. They had known him for as long as I could remember, though. Bernard was one of my parents' proteges. He was about ten years older than me. My parents had been good friends with his parents and they had helped raise Bernard.

My parents had taught Bernard everything he knew about Egyptology. He had been like their child for nearly a decade until I had been born. I had grown up around Bernard and had always liked him; he had even been my first crush when I was eleven. I had long grown out of that phase though, especially once Bernard had started working more on his own. Even though he was working on his own studies now, he still came along on almost all of my parents' digs over the years.

"Where are they?" I asked my parents.

"Just south of Giza," Dad answered.

"Would you like to come?" Mom offered.

"No, thank you. I was thinking I would head into town and grab some things we were running low on," I said. Even though we were getting better, I still felt a little uncomfortable being around my parents. "We have no paper towels and could use a new set of knives." My parents exchanged a worried look. "You have to trust me eventually. I'm just going to pick up some supplies. I've been dead bored sitting inside all day. Come on, he's probably long gone from Cairo by now anyway."

Disappointment shot through my chest at the thought. I hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to Ardeth. "We trust you. Go on. We'll see you tonight," Dad said.

"Have a safe trip," I told them.

"Goodbye, love," Mom said.

"Do you have money?" Dad asked.

"Yeah. Thanks, Dad. Tell Jeff and Bern I said hello," I said.

"We will," Mom promised.

"We'll see you later tonight," Dad added.

"Bye," I called.

I smiled at my parents as they both walked up to me. My mother pressed a kiss into my temple as my father pressed a kiss against my forehead. I walked them both to the door and waved them off as they headed toward the taxi that was waiting at the end of our driveway. I waved to them again as they clambered into the taxi and the car set off down the street. I now had at least eight hours to do whatever I wanted with.

For a little while, after my parents had left, I hung around the house. I took some time to wander around and pick up the things that had been left out in the living room. Once I had cleaned up, I took a seat on the couch and ate my breakfast. It wasn't much; my mother had just left me an orange and a few pieces of toast. I ate them while reading over the morning paper. Nothing of much importance had happened in Cairo over the last few days.

It didn't take me long to realize that I didn't want to spend the day hanging around the house doing nothing. That was what I had been doing in the last few days. I wanted to get out and do something. I decided that I was going to head out to the marketplace for a while. Maybe I would hang around with Hakim. He was the only one who wouldn't ask me about Ardeth if I insisted that I didn't want to talk about him. If I was never going to see him again, I didn't want to think about him.

After some debating, I ultimately decided to head and see Hakim and Alia first. I should have volunteered to clean the store anyway, as I knew Alia couldn't be done moving things yet. Not after I had destroyed their patio. Afterward, I could head to Terence and badger him into telling me something about Ardeth. It was very likely that he would go back and tell my parents that I was asking about him, but I didn't care. If no one was going to tell me who Ardeth was, I would find out for myself.

Ardeth wasn't going to be a stranger to me anymore. I was going to figure out who he was, whatever it took. I needed to know who he was. Especially since I now considered Ardeth to be my friend. Even if I never saw him again, I wanted to know that I had been right about him from the beginning. I grabbed my small purse and threw the long strap over my shoulder, closing the door and locking it behind me so I could head out to the marketplace.

The weather outside was lovely. I wandered through the crowd happily, smiling at some of the tourists. For how strange my life had become lately, I found myself reasonably pleased with the way things were going. I smiled at some of the merchants as I passed their stands and headed toward Alia's store. She wouldn't know anything about Ardeth but I still felt bad about destroying her shop the other day. I had been helping Alia and Hakim fix the store up recently.

"Good morning, Alia," I greeted, walking into the store.

"Ren," Alia greeted. "Where are your parents?"

"They're at a meeting with some business partners. Need any help?" I offered.

Alia smiled, shaking her head at me. "I appreciate it, dear, but I think I'm all set. We took the opportunity to clear out most of the old inventory and replace it with the new inventory. We should be done soon," Alia said, looking around at the workers.

"It's going to look wonderful," I told her. I looked around at the workers but didn't spot Hakim. "Where's Hakim?"

"He's still asleep. I had him working in the store late into the night," Alia explained.

"That's about all he's good for anyway," I teased.

Alia laughed. I had teased Hakim since the day I'd met him. "I'll let him know that you dropped by."

"Thanks."

"You may want to leave before he wakes up," Alia warned.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"He's noticed you wandering around with the handsome man in the black robes the last few days," Alia said. I swallowed thickly. "He doesn't trust him."

"It doesn't seem like anyone trusts him," I said. "What's Hakim's problem?"

"Honestly, dear, I don't think he likes any young man that spends time with you," Alia explained. I blushed as I started shaking my head. Hakim had never thought of me that way, he just liked to tease me. "He prefers to keep your company to himself."

"He's not -"

"I've overstepped," Alia said, backing off of the conversation as she sensed my discomfort. "That's something only Hakim should say."

"It was good to see you, Alia," I said, smiling at her.

"You as well. Have a good day, Ren!" Alia called.

"You too. Let me know if you need any help!" I yelled back to her.

We smiled at each other as I walked off, wringing my hands together nervously. After what Alia had told me about Hakim, I may have needed to avoid the store for a while. I loved Hakim dearly as he was my only real friend in Cairo, but I had never considered him as something more and had always been confident that he had never considered me as anything more. Was I wrong about things? Or, was Alia reading into things? I shook my head irritably as I walked off.

It didn't take me long to walk up to Mara's stand. I wandered through the few tables she had to look at her things. She had a few beautiful dresses laid out and some scarves that I had always enjoyed. I bought Mara's scarves every winter. Mara always designed at least three for me every year. I smiled at the scarves that were laid out and picked up a black beaded one that reminded me of the robes that Ardeth wore. I grinned as I twirled the fabric around my hand.

"Remind you of someone?" Mara's voice called, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Oh, Mara. No, I just thought it was -"

"I'm only teasing you, dear," Mara said, smiling at me. "He seemed very interested in you."

"He's probably interested in everyone not from his tribe. I think I'm someone new to him. He's not from around here so it must be interesting to meet someone so used to city life," I defended myself weakly.

"Do you think that's all?" Mara asked.

"Maybe," I said, shrugging my shoulders as carelessly as I could. "It doesn't matter. He's not interested in talking to me anymore. Not after what happened with my dad."

"What happened?" Mara asked curiously.

Mara was one person I knew wouldn't judge me for what had happened. Still, I hesitated for a moment before telling Mara what had happened at the museum. I held the black scarf in my hands and twirled the material around my fingers as I recounted what had happened to Mara. I told her everything from meeting Ardeth that day in the marketplace to the days that followed where we had seen each other to the recent meeting my father had interrupted. It was a strange story, but Mara looked unbothered.

"Ren, if you like this man, don't let your grumpy old father tell you he's not worth it," Mara said, resting a hand on my shoulder. "You're the only one who can make that distinction."

"It's a nice sentiment, Mara, but I still don't know him that well," I muttered.

"You can get to know him," Mara suggested.

"He's gone. Dad scared him off," I said sadly.

Mara smiled. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? How did she know Dad hadn't scared him off? As Mara walked away, I sensed that someone was standing behind me. I glanced back as I dropped the scarf from my hand back onto the table. I was genuinely shocked to see that Ardeth Bay was still in Cairo and appeared to have been looking for me. I had figured that, after having already been in Cairo for a few days, he would be on his way back home by now. We stared at each other for a long time.

Almost a full minute passed before Ardeth became the first one to speak. "I looked for you yesterday."

"My parents wouldn’t let me leave the house. I thought you would be gone," I said honestly.

"Not yet."

We stared at each other for another few seconds before my face finally broke into a smile. Ardeth looked as happy to see me as I was to see him. "It's really good to see that you're still here," I said slowly.

"It's good to see you again, Renata," Ardeth replied.

The sound of his voice told me that Ardeth wasn't upset with me for what had happened the other day, but I still wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. The two of us stared at each other for a few moments longer before I decided to throw caution to the wind and hug Ardeth. My arms wrapped around the back of his neck as he stiffened for a moment. He seemed surprised at my action for a moment but he quickly returned the gesture. I didn't want to pull away but I knew that I had to before someone saw.

As we broke apart I noticed that Ardeth was looking around. "It's just me," I told Ardeth, and he relaxed slightly. "They're out of town until later tonight."

Ardeth smiled. "That's relieving."

"Yeah, it is. My father looked like he was about ready to kill you when he saw you the other day," I said, unsure if I should have mentioned what had happened. "Ardeth, I'm so sorry about that. I don't know what he was thinking."

Ardeth shook his head at me. "You don't have to apologize, Renata."

"I feel like I do."

"You don't."

"He's never like that. I've never seen him like that with anyone."

"Renata, I understand. I do not blame you for your father's actions."

It shocked me that Ardeth wasn't upset over what had happened. It must have been mortifying for him. "You're much more forgiving than I would be," I said half-teasingly.

"I've become accustomed to people not always believing that I am not here to disrupt your lives," Ardeth said. I raised my eyebrows curiously. I wasn't sure what he meant. "Your father is only doing what he believes is best to protect you."

"See? If he heard you saying that he would automatically decide he loved you," I teased.

Ardeth laughed. "He's protective. Who could fault him for that?"

"Me. But I'm his barely of age daughter so that comes with the territory."

"He is your father. I cannot be surprised that he doesn't want the two of us associating," Ardeth said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Do I look trustworthy?"

The interesting thing was that I had never thought Ardeth was dangerous. He had always seemed perfectly safe to me. "Well, you saved me from getting myself thrown in prison or losing my hand the first time we met so I trust you," I told him. Ardeth smiled. "But I get your point. I didn't have much of a choice in trusting you."

"Do you still trust me?" Ardeth asked.

I glanced at him and smiled. "Yeah."

"Will you walk with me?" Ardeth asked.

"Of course," I said.

My day was already improving. I smiled as Ardeth held out his arm to motion me ahead of him. I smiled as I reached out to take his arm. He looked a little surprised at the forwardness of my actions but didn't stop me. Instead, he rested a hand over mine for a moment before leading me away. I hoped that if anyone was watching, it wouldn't dawn on them what was going on. We walked together away from the marketplace. I couldn't help but hope for somewhere with a little more privacy.

"Your parents helped discover the White Lady painting," Ardeth said after a few beats.

"You knew about that?" I asked curiously. Ardeth nodded. "Yeah, I was there."

"You were there?" Ardeth asked.

"My parents were called in to assist with the discovery. They brought me along because they thought it would be safe. It was interesting, but at the same time, it was just a painting," I explained.

"I've heard about the painting."

"It's beautiful. You should see it given the chance."

Ardeth wore a small smile but he shook his head. "The painting is in Namibia. I would never have the chance to travel there. It's on the other side of Africa," Ardeth explained.

The more Ardeth talked about his tribe, the more controlling it seemed. "Not even on a trip?" I asked curiously.

"It would take my family much convincing," Ardeth explained. "It would also be a long trip to make by myself."

"Bring someone with you."

"Who would you suggest?"

"Would it be too forward of me to suggest myself?" I asked, only half-teasingly. "It would be like having your own personal guide with you."

Ardeth smiled. "I do believe you would make good company."

"I've made good company so far, haven't I?" I asked.

"Better than most anyone else I've ever met," Ardeth replied.

The thought turned my teasing look into a sweet smile. I felt a little stupid for the flutter in my chest. I liked Ardeth a lot more than I would have cared to admit. I could already feel myself developing a stronger crush on him than I'd started with, which I knew wasn't smart. I likely wouldn't see him again after this. He would be leaving in a few days. But I couldn't help myself. I liked Ardeth and didn't want to give up on seeing him. Suddenly, I remembered exactly what had happened two days prior.

"You knew who he was," I said without warning. Ardeth looked surprised by my comment. "You knew my father. You called him by his full name. Do you follow my parents?"

"My people follow all notable archaeologists," Ardeth explained. "That was the first time I had ever seen your father."

"Your people follow notable archaeologists?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You may not like the answer," Ardeth said.

"Tell me," I prompted.

Ardeth let out a deep breath as he hesitated to tell me the truth. "My people do not tend to think highly of archaeologists."

We met eyes for a moment as I raised an eyebrow, wondering what Ardeth meant. I thought about it for a moment before putting it together. "You think we're like grave-robbers," I mumbled.

"Sometimes, yes," Ardeth said. I nodded slowly, feeling a little awkward. "I'm sorry."

He had every right to feel that way about archaeologists. "It's okay. You're certainly not the first native tribe to believe that we were disrupting the buried treasures of the Ancient Egyptians," I told him.

"No," Ardeth agreed. "But I've never felt so guilty for thinking that."

"Don't. I understand. There are always some bad seeds who ruin things for everyone," I told him. Ardeth chuckled. "What about me?"

"You are different," Ardeth said. I smiled at him. I was glad that he could see it. "From what I can see, you have a deep respect and love for the Egyptian culture. Unfortunately, not all share your love for this place. Many wish to exploit the treasures of the desert."

"I would never and neither would my parents," I said seriously.

"I understand."

"I want people to understand what this place was like once. I want them to know and love Egypt and its history like I do," I said dreamily. I loved Egypt and wished everyone could see it through my eyes. "Our goal is to teach people and keep Egypt's history safe from those who would like to take it and use it for themselves."

"You're one of the good ones, Renata. I know that," Ardeth said.

"But your people wouldn't."

"It would be very unlikely. They do not trust anyone who disrupts the past."

"We can't all live on legends. Some of us need to see proof."

"Is there something you would wish to see?"

"Well..." I said slowly, unsure if I should continue.

Ardeth seemed to know what I was thinking. "Only tell me if you trust me."

"The strange thing is that I do trust you. Honestly, I trust you more than I've trusted just about anyone else," I said truthfully. Ardeth smiled at me. "My parents are working toward discovering King Tutankhamen's Tomb. That's the first official dig they promised to bring me on if they get a good lead. Could you imagine? Being the family to discover his resting place? We'd be in the history books forever."

"It would give great credibility to your name throughout the archaeological community. More so than you already have," Ardeth said. I smiled at him. I had never realized how well my family was known throughout the world. "It would be one of the greatest discoveries of modern-day."

"Do you know anything about where he's buried?" I asked curiously.

Ardeth shook his head. "Unfortunately, I do not. Those aren't the legends we tell in my tribe."

"What legends do you tell?" I asked. When Ardeth began shifting slightly uncomfortably, I realized that it must have been something he wasn't supposed to talk about. "Or is that another secret?"

"I would like to tell you one day," Ardeth said slowly.

"I can take the promise of one day," I teased.

"Ren."

The call of my nickname made me jump. Both Ardeth and I turned around to see that Hakim was standing not far behind us. I flushed as Hakim's eyes trailed to Ardeth. "Morning, Hakim," I said awkwardly, hoping I could get out of this conversation unscathed. "Alia told me that you were still sleeping."

"I was. When I woke up my mother told me that you had just left. I was hoping to catch you," Hakim said.

"You caught me. What's up?" I asked.

The three of us were left in a tense and awkward silence for a moment. "It's not that important," Hakim said, backing away slowly. "We can talk later."

"Are you okay?" I asked awkwardly.

"It's fine, Ren," Hakim said, waving me off. "I'll leave you to enjoy your afternoon."

I raised my eyebrows in confusion as Hakim began walking away. "See you later," I called after Hakim. I turned back to Ardeth and laughed quietly. "That was odd."

"That's the young man from the tapestry store," Ardeth commented.

"Yeah. His name's Hakim," I explained.

"Is that your...?" Ardeth trailed off.

"Boyfriend?" I filled in.

Unless I was insane, Ardeth almost looked a little disappointed. "I see."

Idiot, Ren! Ardeth thought that I meant Hakim was my boyfriend. "What? No!" I yelped. Ardeth jumped slightly as I laughed awkwardly, running my hands through my hair. "No, Hakim is just a friend. My oldest friend. He's one of the only people in Cairo I talk to who's my age."

"He is just a friend, then?" Ardeth asked.

"Yeah. My best friend. Hakim and I have known each other since we were little kids," I explained.

"He did not seem too happy to see you with me," Ardeth said.

"Don't take it personally. Hakim pretends that he can't stand me but we've known each other since... before I can remember. He's been protective for years. Any time someone comes in that he doesn't know, he does everything in his power to scare them off. I don't think he'll be successful with you, though," I said. I was going to stop there when I felt a little spurt of bravery. "At least, I hope he won't."

Ardeth laughed. "He cares for you."

"Don't mistake his actions. It's just as a friend."

"You're lucky to have such a caring friend."

"One of my parents' better choices."

"Did they introduce you?" Ardeth asked curiously.

"Yes. My parents were always friendly with Alia, Hakim's mother. When they realized that she had a son a little older than me they were insistent on introducing us. It was mostly luck that we always got along," I explained.

"Your parents have made good choices for you," Ardeth pointed out.

"Not all the time," I said.

They weren't letting me see Ardeth. That was the one poor choice they had made for me. "They will allow you on a dig one day, once they've deemed you old enough to handle yourself in whatever situation may arise," Ardeth said fairly.

"Good point, but that's not what I meant," I told him.

"You don't see eye-to-eye to them regarding our friendship?" Ardeth asked.

"Not in the slightest," I said.

"I'm glad to hear that," Ardeth said, smiling at me.

"You know something?" I asked. Ardeth looked at me. "My parents have decided everything I do since I was a baby. Everyone I know is through them, any success I have in my career is because of them, every date I've been on was set up by them, and any friends of mine are because they introduced us. I've never done anything that was because I wanted to do it." Ardeth gave me a long look. "If you're okay with risking it, I've come to enjoy our time together and I don't want it to end."

Ardeth seemed to consider what I was talking about for a few moments. "You're not afraid to sneak around behind your parents' backs?" Ardeth asked.

I laughed, waving off his concern. "Please, I already do that when I steal food for the kids." Ardeth smiled. "Trying to get rid of me?" I asked playfully.

"Never," Ardeth said. I smiled at him. "I would very much enjoy continuing to see you."

"So, we're agreed."

"We are. You are a surprisingly trusting person."

"I like to admit that I've got a good sense of people. I know when I can trust them and when I need to run away."

"And you trust me?" Ardeth asked.

"I do," I said.

"But your father does not," Ardeth continued.

"Unfortunately, he doesn't. But if we're being fair he doesn't seem to like anyone he doesn't introduce me to," I pointed out. We stared at each other for a moment before I decided to continue speaking. "It's been driving me insane if I'm being honest. I think I'm right to trust you but my parents are determined that they are. Normally I would believe them but I have a strong feeling that you're a good guy. I don't think you would hurt me."

"I would never hurt you, Renata," Ardeth said fiercely.

For some reason, I believed him. "Tell me something about your people. Anything," I said.

If he would tell me something real about him, I could trust him. "My people are extremely protective of our land. We have long considered it to be sacred," Ardeth said thoughtfully. "We're responsible for keeping outsiders at bay and sometimes that means -"

"Defending it by whatever means necessary," I said, putting two-and-two together. "Right?"

Ardeth nodded slowly. "You are correct."

It might not have explained every reason my parents didn't like Ardeth, but it was a start. It explained why they thought he was dangerous. "It makes sense now. Why my parents would be so against your people," I explained. Ardeth nodded for me to continue. "You were saying you've never met them before?"

"No, but I believe my father has," Ardeth admitted.

"Which explains why my mother told me your father would have reacted the same way they did," I said. Ardeth nodded his confirmation. "I trust that you wouldn't hurt me, Ardeth."

Ardeth smiled gratefully. "I am glad to hear that."

"They're wrong about you. You're protecting your home and there's no shame in that."

"You believe that we do what we must to protect ourselves and others?"

"I do."

"Good."

We smiled at each other as we continued walking. "I'm sorry about my dad's outburst the other day," I repeated, feeling terrible for the way he had been treated by my family.

"It's fine, Renata," Ardeth said carelessly.

"You know, you're probably the most level-headed person I've ever met," I said.

"Is that so?"

"Most people would have been so offended by the way my father had reacted and that I hadn't fought back harder that they would have never wanted to speak to me again."

"I do not blame you for not fighting against your father. Anyone who would abandon you because of a parent's bias would not make a good friend."

"That's a good point. I happen to think you'll make a wonderful friend," I told him.

"Do you?" Ardeth asked.

"Yes. I find you interesting," I said.

Ardeth chuckled. "You find me interesting?"

Some interesting people traveled into Cairo sometimes, but I had never met someone as interesting as Ardeth. "Sure. I've never met anyone like you before. You're relatively open and welcoming but I still know so little about you. You speak like you're from the nineteenth century but yet you're oddly progressive," I said curiously.

"That's high praise," Ardeth teased.

"I wouldn't say it unless you've earned it."

"You feel that I've earned it?"

"Yes," I said. I thought about letting it drop, but I wanted to say one more thing. "You know something? I've not a naturally trusting person. I rely mostly on myself and my family. That's the way I've always been. I haven't known you long, but I trust you. You saved me from the guards when you didn't even know who I was."

"You were a woman who appeared in danger," Ardeth said.

"And you kept talking to me afterward."

"You piqued my interest."

Was I that interesting? I supposed that running through the marketplace with armed guards chasing me was interesting. I smiled at Ardeth as I glanced at my wristwatch. "The feeling's mutual," I said.

Ardeth smiled. "Do you have somewhere you need to be?"

"Not for a while."

There was no way I was leaving now that I was finally getting a chance to talk to Ardeth without being concerned over who would see me. "Would you care for a drink?" Ardeth asked.

"I'd love one," I said happily.

Ardeth and I walked off together, chatting quietly. We headed toward the far end of the marketplace where the restaurants and bars were set up. I had been to the hole-in-the-wall diners a few times but had mostly eaten in the nicer restaurants with my parents and friends of theirs. Ardeth didn't lead me to either one of those places, though. Instead, he walked us toward a bar that I had never been in before. I had never been to any of the bars before.

Ardeth looked to me for confirmation before entering the bar. I thought about it for a moment before nodding my approval. I didn't mind being in the tavern. I had always been curious to have a drink but my parents hadn't allowed me to try any alcohol - even if I was eighteen, of legal drinking age. They wanted me to wait a few years before trying it. I had rarely seen them drink. I seated myself at the bar with Ardeth as he ordered himself something called Stella.

"Would you like a glass of wine?" Ardeth asked me.

"What did you order?" I asked.

"Stella," Ardeth repeated. I stared at him blankly for a moment as Ardeth realized I didn't know what it was. "It is a lager beer."

"I'll take one of those," I said.

"Two, please," Ardeth told the bartender in Arabic. He switched back to English as he began speaking to me again. "I haven't met many women who enjoy beer."

My face flushed with color as I realized I was about to sound like a little kid. "Well, if we're being honest, I've never had any alcohol before," I mumbled. Ardeth looked surprised to hear that. "My parents are the occasional wine and beer drinkers but they usually only drink during social situations. They asked me to wait before drinking but I've always been curious to try it."

"Should I be taking you for your first drink?" Ardeth asked carefully.

"Why not? I'm not supposed to be seeing you anyway. We may as well break a few more rules," I teased.

Ardeth laughed at my honesty as we were handed our drinks. It was a pale yellow liquid in a large glass. Ardeth passed mine to me, giving me a long look as if to ask if I really wanted it. "What shall we toast to?" Ardeth asked as I took my drink in hand.

I thought about it for a moment before raising my glass toward Ardeth. "Making breaking the rules worth it," I teased.

Ardeth laughed as I took a long drink of the beer. It didn't taste like I had been expecting. It was mellow and smooth. I had expected it to be sharp and bitter. The beer tasted almost a bit like the sodas I had tried on our trips back to the United States. Ardeth was watching me with a smile as I drank. "What do you think?" he asked.

"It's not bad. It tastes a little bit like soda," I told him honestly. 

"I would not recommend drinking that as you do soda," Ardeth said.

I laughed at him. "Duly noted." I took another sip of my drink as Ardeth watched me with a vague smile on his face. "This is pretty good," I said.

"I'm glad you enjoy it."

"What do I owe you?"

Ardeth shook his head. "Please, the drink is on me."

If there was anything I hated, it was having people pay for something I should have been paying for. "No, don't do that. I hate feeling like I owe someone anything," I said, digging into my purse.

Ardeth reached out and took my hand to stop me from grabbing any change. I frowned as I looked at him. I had always been raised to not owe anyone anything. I smiled at Ardeth as he released me. "You do not owe me anything. The drink is my pleasure if it means that I have more time with you," Ardeth said.

A wild blush formed on my cheeks and traveled down my chest. I was crushing on Ardeth harder than I ever had with anyone else. "Do you drink much?" I asked, trying to get my thoughts off of my crush.

"Not often. Drinking is not common in my tribe but I do enjoy the occasional beer when I journey to Cairo," Ardeth said.

It must not have been common after Ardeth had gotten drunk and fallen from his horse. I smiled as I took another sip. "Ah. A fellow rule-breaker," I teased.

"You may perhaps be one of the bravest people I've ever met," Ardeth said, chuckling.

"Idiotic, more like."

"That much I do not believe."

"You watched me run for my life from guards because I stole an apple and you still don't think I'm an idiot?"

"I think you have a good heart," Ardeth said.

Maybe I didn't always think things through, but I tried to do the right thing. "You do too, you know? You had no idea who I was but you came to my aid anyway," I told him.

"You were -"

"A woman in trouble?" I interrupted. Ardeth smiled guiltily. "So I've heard." Ardeth and I exchanged a small smile. I decided to push him a little bit further as I wore a brilliant smirk. "Is that the only reason you came to my aid?"

Ardeth may not have had any formal education, but he was smart enough to know what I was teasing him about. "No," Ardeth admitted. A small smile turned up on his mouth. "You interested me. I wanted to know you. I saw you drop from the roof between the two buildings. I've never seen someone do something like that. I wouldn't even do something like that."

"Probably a wise choice," I said. We exchanged a small laugh. "Well, you jumped off the roof of a building with me."

"Only because it was your idea," Ardeth pointed out.

"One of my better ideas, I believe," I teased.

"I agree." We smiled at each other as I drank down a bit more of my beer. "Have your parents ever seen what you do?" Ardeth asked curiously.

If my mother ever saw what I did for the kids in Cairo, she would kill me. I laughed at the image of her finding out the truth. "Absolutely not. My father saw me once and agreed to keep it a secret from my mother. I think I'd give her a stroke if she knew how close I'd been to getting arrested... and more than once," I said, giggling.

"How many times have you nearly been arrested?" Ardeth asked laughingly.

"More than I'd like to admit," I giggled.

There was a reason the guards loved to hate me so much. They had tried to arrest me for years but had always fallen short of their goal. Ardeth laughed. "Somehow I believe you would be able to trick your way out of prison," he reasoned.

"That's a fair observation," I said.

We both laughed as I twisted on my chair to face Ardeth. My crossed legs were hanging in between his slightly open ones. I smiled brightly at him, hiding slightly behind my beer. "You have a beautiful smile," Ardeth commented kindly.

I couldn't tell if he was flirting or making an honest observation. A stupid blush filled my cheeks as I looked at him. "Thank you," I said, hearing my voice crack. I cleared my voice before speaking again. "I'm not keeping you from anything, am I?"

Ardeth shook his head. "No. I would much rather be here, with you, anyway."

"That's good to hear. I've had a lot of fun with you these last few days. I'd like for it to not end."

"As would I."

"It's going to be strange not having you in Cairo once you have to go back home."

"It may be the first time in my life that I'll wish I wasn't home."

It was still difficult to tell if Ardeth was flirting with me or not, but I appreciated the comment all the same. I smiled, knowing that there was still a bit of a blush on my cheeks. "I'm sure that's not true," I said bashfully, looking at the wooden bar top. "Don't you miss your family and friends?"

"If we're being honest, I can't say I have," Ardeth admitted. That was a surprising revelation. He seemed like a family man. I raised my eyebrows questioningly. "The men and women in my tribe are the most important parts of my life but it's nice to meet someone new. I've quite enjoyed my time with you, Renata."

"You'll have to come back to Cairo eventually, then," I told him honestly. "I'd say that I would come and visit you but I somehow doubt I would get the warmest reception."

"You are correct, though I would love for you to visit," Ardeth said regretfully.

"I promise I'm good company," I teased.

"I've seen that already."

"Do outsiders ever visit your tribe?"

"No. If there were to ever be a first, I would hope that it would be you," Ardeth said.

My cheeks lit up with a wild blush as Sharif entered the bar with Nasir at his side. I glanced at them and Ardeth followed my line of sight. There was a brief moment wherein we all stared at each other. Initially, I believed the guards would walk up and tease me, but their smiles quickly faded and I realized that it was because they weren't comfortable with what they were seeing. They were staring at Ardeth - notably how close he was to me. He must have noticed it as well as he gently pushed back away from me.

"I'm sorry about them," I said awkwardly, looking at Ardeth. I knew that they had made him uncomfortable. "They overreact. The people here have known me since I was a little girl. They're protective."

Ardeth shook his head. "Rightfully so. They do not know me or my intentions." As always, Ardeth was level-headed. I glanced up again to see that Sharif and Nasir were still staring at us. "Should I leave you be?" Ardeth asked.

"Please don't," I said, placing a hand on the bar next to him. "I'm having a good time and if you can ignore them, I can too."

"I can ignore them," Ardeth said.

At least Ardeth was able to brush away the prejudices that others were placing on him. I couldn't do that and I was grateful that he could. I reached out and boldly placed a hand on his arm. I noticed Sharif and Nasir stiffen at their booth but they didn't make a move toward us. Ardeth smiled at me and briefly rested his hand over mine before pulling away respectfully. We ended up sitting together for what I was sure was hours, talking and laughing as we got to know each other more.

We each divulged plenty of things about ourselves to the other. I told Ardeth about the trips that I had taken to the United States over the years. He loved hearing about them. Ardeth told me that the United States seemed to be the kind of place where anyone could go to make a life. I agreed that it was a place with more acceptance than most, but not for everyone. Ardeth knew without me having to say anything that the United States' acceptance wouldn't include him.

Even though I told Ardeth that I loved the United States, I made sure that he knew that nothing meant more to me than my life in Egypt and the way everyone could be what they wanted here. Ardeth smiled at me as I spoke about my love for my original home. Ardeth laughed very loudly when I told him about my Aunt Sylvia and the way that I loved to mess with her whenever I took a trip back home. It was mainly be telling her that I was seeing an Egyptian native.

Ardeth seemed to be very entertained by the idea. I admitted to Ardeth that I had never really dated anyone long-term before so that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I liked my Aunt Sylvia's reaction to my stories of intimacy. Ardeth's face reddened a bit as I spoke. I had never been too awkward about speaking on my personal life or beliefs, but I could tell that Ardeth had been raised differently. He was a soldier. I hoped that I could bring out his bold side.

It was fascinating listening to Ardeth tell me about what life was like in his tribe. Nothing was in-depth or things that the average person wouldn't know, but I appreciated anything he was willing to tell me. I liked listening to him tell me about his favorite meal or the way his father taught him to swing a sword. I loved hearing about his two younger brothers. They sounded troublesome but I could tell by the fondness in Ardeth's eyes that he loved them very much.

We exchanged more laughs in the one conversation than I could remember in my entire life as we shared three beers each. I could feel myself getting a little light-headed but I loved it. I realized why my parents had been nervous about me drinking. I could feel my inhibitions lowering as I spoke. Ardeth seemed to find my silliness charming. He liked that I wasn't as serious as the people in his tribe. I blushed like an idiot when he told me that my laugh was one of the most peaceful sounds he had ever heard.

I was positive that I had never blushed so hard in my entire life at those words. It didn't take long to see that I was nothing like Ardeth, but I didn't care. There was something in us that was similar. He kept up with me even when my thoughts seemed to go haywire. He understood me even when my words became jumbled. He smiled at me and let me speak when I had something to say and he always had a genuine thought to respond with.

As we spoke, I heard the clock occasionally chiming away a new hour but the two of us never stopped speaking or laughing. Ardeth quickly grew into one of the closest friends I had ever had. I told him things that it had taken me years to tell Hakim within hours. My desire to be around Ardeth wasn't just because I was attracted to him - he was a fascinating person. I could listen to him talk forever. I loved that when he spoke, he looked at me as though I was the only person in the world.

We were only broken from our in-depth conversation when the clock chimed away that it is nine o'clock at night. I sighed, knowing that it was time to go home. "As much as I hate to say it, I think it's time for me to go," I said slowly. Ardeth nodded sadly. "Will you still be here tomorrow?"

"I will be in Cairo for a few more days," Ardeth said.

A small smile appeared on my face. I was glad to know that I would see him again before we had to part for who knew how long. "Promise me that you'll see me again before you go?" I goaded.

Ardeth smiled. "You have my word. May I walk you home?"

I smiled in response. "I'd like that."

If it meant having more time with him, I would take it. Ardeth hopped off the barstool and handed over a few pounds for the beers. I had mentioned that I could have paid for my beers but Ardeth had refused to let me pay. I had smiled at the gesture as we headed into the street. I tilted my head back to drink in the moonlight. I had always loved midnight walks. Ardeth and I walked together in silence for a few moments as we headed back to my house. The streets were mostly empty this time of night.

"Thank you for the day," I said as we headed toward my house. "I needed to get out for a while."

"It was my pleasure, Renata. You are good company," Ardeth said.

"So are you. You'll have to let me pay you back for the drinks," I told him.

"The drinks were my pleasure. You owe me nothing. Your company was enough," Ardeth replied.

A smile formed on my lips. "Can I ask you something?"

"Certainly."

Something odd had occurred to me as Ardeth had paid for the drinks. "Your tribe works on the barter system, right?" I asked. Ardeth nodded his confirmation. "If there's no currency in your tribe, how are you able to afford anything in Cairo?"

"We do not steal," Ardeth said quickly.

"Oh, I - I wasn't accusing you," I stammered, trying to backpedal.

"No, I understand," Ardeth said, waving off my concern. I hadn't thought he was stealing, I was just curious. "We have members of our tribe here in Cairo. They work and earn their livings like the rest of you and send back just enough so that any of our tribe members who have to journey to a city can bring enough to live on with them."

"I see. It sounds like a cohesive community."

"It is."

"It's nice to hear. You all work together and for each other. It's not like that here. There are so many people who walk past me every day that I don't even stop to give a second thought about."

"Not the children," Ardeth pointed out.

"Okay, that's fair."

"To your credit, Cairo is much larger than my tribe. We're all each other knows. There is no bigger world. We don't have the freedom to spread our wings as you do."

There was something wistful in his voice. Even if he wouldn't say it, I knew Ardeth wanted to explore. "You deserve that choice. Everyone deserves a choice. Whether that's to go out and explore the world or stay home and start a family, we all deserve options and choices. I do and so do you," I said quietly.

Ardeth shook his head. "I don't know where I would begin."

"Now you have something to think about tonight," I chirped teasingly.

Ardeth smiled. "You have given me much new to think on since we met."

"Good. You have something to do now in case you get bored in your meetings."

"They would be far more entertaining if someone like you were allowed in."

"There is no one like me, Ardeth Bay," I said huffily, throwing my hair over my shoulders.

Ardeth laughed. "That's something I am quickly learning."

At least he didn't think I was being an ass. I smiled at Ardeth and stood directly across from him as we arrived at my house. "I almost hate to say goodnight," I said.

"I will come to see you soon," Ardeth promised.

"I'll hold you up to that."

Ardeth placed an arm gently on my back, pushing me toward my doorstep. I smiled at him as I stood at the front door. "Goodnight, Renata," Ardeth said quietly.

"Goodnight, Ardeth," I replied.

Ardeth removed his hand from my lower back quickly as he stepped back into the shadows of the alleyway. I waited for him to vanish in the darkness before pushing open the front door and slipping into the house. I knew, without looking back, that Ardeth was still watching me. He would be watching until he was positive that I was safe. I bolted the front door behind me, resisting the urge to look out the window and see if Ardeth was still there.

It would have been impossible to look, anyway. My parents were already at home. They were placing their things down as they had returned from their trip. "Welcome home," I greeted.

"Ren," Mom chirped, looking up from their bags. "Have you been out all day?"

"I've been in and out," I lied. "I saw Hakim and Alia for a little while."

"That's nice," Dad said.

"How are Jeff and Bern?" I asked.

"They're good. They both miss you," Dad said.

"I miss them too," I said honestly.

It was always nice to see Jeff and Bern after we hadn't seen them for a long time. "You should have come along. I'm sure it would have been more entertaining than whatever Alia had you doing today," Dad said.

I smiled at him playfully. "Yeah, I'm sure."

As entertaining as Jeff and Bern were, I had something better to do. I sat with my parents until almost midnight talking about their afternoon with Jeff and Bern. Bern didn't know where King Tutankhamen's Tomb was but he did get some information from an American archaeologist. He would be heading home soon to see what he could learn from him. Mom then told me that Bern had grown into a handsome man, which I immediately rebuffed. We had known each other since we were kids. It would be too weird.

Though my mother wasn't wrong. The last time I had seen Bern, I had realized that he was an extremely handsome man. I had known it since I was a child. I didn't bother telling my mother that my rebuttal was also because of my budding feelings for Ardeth Bay. He was exactly as my mother had described him - handsome and mysterious - but he was also kind and generous. I liked him and would continue seeing him even if it meant having to hide that part of my life from my parents.

The following day when I woke up, I decided that I would spend the day at home. I knew that I was going to draw some suspicion from my parents if I was out of the house all day. They were used to me being in and out throughout the day but they were also used to me being around for meals and for some quality family time every day. As much as I wanted to head out and be with Ardeth, I didn't want my parents to realize what I was doing.

Throughout the morning, I spent a few hours pouring over some Egyptology books with my mother. We were working harder than ever to find King Tutankhamen's Tomb but there were no indications as to where it may be. At least, not in a place we hadn't looked before. I knew that my mother was annoyed with our lack of progress, but we all knew that making a serious discovery was something that took years in the making. It didn't happen overnight.

After eating lunch together - and briefly welcoming Hakim into the house to hang a new pair of curtains my parents had commissioned from Alia a few weeks ago - I sat with my father and began helping him map out the cities that we had already checked for the tomb. I did briefly bring up the idea that the tomb may have been lost forever. My father looked horrified at the idea but he did admit that there was a chance that could be the truth.

We discussed the idea of my parents potentially teaming up with Howard Carter - a notable British archaeologist - but they refused. They didn't like his backer, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon. I did point out though that Carter had already found some evidence hinting that King Tutankhamen may still have been waiting to be found including a faience cup, a piece of gold foil, and a cache of funerary items which all bore the name of Tutankhamun.

The problem was that his final resting place was still nowhere to be found. After hours of fruitless labor, I decided to bathe and prepare for dinner. We were getting nowhere today and my head wasn't one hundred percent in it. After I had washed off, I wrapped my hair into a tight bun on top of my head and dressed in a simple white t-shirt and a pair of beige cloth pants. I was in the middle of cleaning up my room when I heard my name being shouted from downstairs.

"Ren!" Mom yelled.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"Could you go grab dinner?" Mom asked.

"Sure," I said. I headed downstairs to ask what my parents wanted for dinner when I spotted my mother in the living room, soaked to the bone. "Whoa. What the hell happened to you?"

"Ren. Language, honestly," Mom chided.

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

"A pipe burst in the upstairs bathroom and your father is trying to fix it," she explained.

"Does dad know anything about plumbing?" I asked.

"No, but he's trying," Mom said.

"Damn it!" Dad shouted.

"Dad!" I called loudly.

It didn't sound good. Mom and I went sprinting upstairs to see what had happened. The burst pipe was spraying water all over the bathroom walls and toward the door. Mom and I squealed in shock as we were sprayed with cold water from the pipe. I started laughing hysterically as I ran back into the hallway, only to slip and fall. By now, even my parents were laughing at my misfortune. Water was still spraying all over the bathroom as I kneeled up onto my knees.

"Oh, man. I needed that laugh," I wheezed.

"Are you okay?" Dad asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," I said, waving off his concern.

"Dinner, please," Mom told me.

"Sure. Anything in particular?" I asked.

"Something quick," Mom said, walking back into the bathroom.

"Chicken it is. I'll be back soon," I said, clambering back to my feet. I was about to leave when I stopped and turned back to my parents. "Mom, Hakim is good with plumbing, want me to bring him back with me?"

"Yes!" Mom yelled.

"No!" Dad countered. "I can handle it."

"Really? It doesn't look handled," I said doubtfully.

"Go!" Dad shouted.

"Okay," I muttered.

Typical man... I grabbed my coin purse and briefly debated on changing. I was dripping wet and it wasn't an attractive look. I knew that I should have changed but it wasn't worth it. I was only going to be out for a few minutes. I did decide to throw on a sweater as I headed out of the house and toward the marketplace. As it was dinnertime, there were plenty of people walking around. It didn't take me long to begin receiving some odd looks for my damp appearance.

Maybe I should have changed before coming out. It was too late now. I was about halfway toward the butcher's shop when I got caught up in a thick crowd. I was trying to push my way through the crowd when I felt something latch onto my arm. I thought that I had gotten tangled up in someone's clothes when an arm wrapped around mine and pulled me out of the crowd, down a dark path. I gasped as I had a brief image of someone gutting me.

I pulled up my arm to punch my attacker when I caught sight of the black robes and realized that it was just Ardeth. I let out a deep breath as I tried to relax. "Ardeth. Damn you!" I yelled, fighting to get my breathing back to normal. "I thought you were going to kill me."

"My apologies, I did not mean to frighten you," Ardeth replied.

But he was wearing a bright smile. "Sure, you didn't," I huffed.

Maybe I was starting to rub off on Ardeth too much. Now he was playing pranks on me the way I had always liked to play pranks on Hakim. My scowl quickly turned to a smile though when I saw the boyish grin on his face. It was nice to see him enjoying himself. I smiled up at Ardeth as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. This time he was much faster in responding by wrapping his arms around my waist. We remained together for a moment before Ardeth backed away, looking very surprised.

"Have you gone swimming?" Ardeth asked.

I'd almost forgotten that I was still soaking wet. "A pipe burst in our house. My parents are trying to fix it. They asked me to run out and grab dinner," I explained.

"I see," Ardeth said, nodding slowly. "You are preoccupied tonight?"

"For a while. What about later?" I offered.

"How late?" Ardeth asked.

It would have to be after my parents fell asleep. "How much of a night owl are you?" I asked.

Ardeth stared at me before smiling understandingly. "Enough of one. What time can I meet you?"

"They'll be asleep by eleven."

"I'll be in the alley near your home," Ardeth promised.

"See you tonight," I replied.

The two of us smiled at each other and briefly took each other's hands before heading in opposite directions. I turned back just long enough to see Ardeth's black robes vanish around the corner of a building. My heart was fluttering stupidly as I headed to pick up the chicken. Even though I had been starving earlier, I couldn't care less about dinner now. All I wanted was to meet up with Ardeth. I knew that I was in a bit of a daze as I headed to the butcher and grabbed a small chicken for us.

By the time I made it back home, I had a good laugh as I realized that my parents had ended up calling Hakim for help. He was in the middle of fixing the pipe when he began teasing my parents that he should start an invoice for everything of ours he had to fix. Mom teased Hakim that she would pay him by giving him me. Before I had the chance to rebuff, Hakim told her that having to deal with me was a punishment. I smacked him but laughed anyway.  
As Hakim left to allow us to have our dinner, the two of us exchanged a damp hug. I could see the suspicion in Hakim's eyes as I did and I quickly realized that he had likely seen my brief interaction with Ardeth. I silently promised Hakim that we would talk about things later. Right now, all I wanted to think about was my upcoming evening with Ardeth. It was why I watched the clock tick away the minutes at dinner, as I worked with my parents after dinner, and while I tried to read Tarzan of the Apes.  
At bedtime, I practically threw my parents into their room while saying goodnight. Instead, I managed to kiss my parents on the cheeks and head upstairs calmly. Once I was upstairs, I let down my now-curly hair and changed into a short-sleeved black shirt and a pair of beige khakis that were soft enough to be comfortable. I passed the time until eleven o'clock by playing solitaire on my bed so many times that, by the end, I never wanted to see another playing card again.

When the clock finally showed that there were only five minutes until eleven, I leaped from my bed and gently nudged my door open. I tiptoed to my parents' bedroom and pressed my ear against the door. It was dead silent for a moment until I heard my father's soft snoring. They were asleep and wouldn't hear me leaving. I grinned at my daring nature as I turned back to my bedroom, gently closing the door just in case my parents woke up.

After I had closed the door, I headed downstairs and snagged one of my scarves from the hat stand that stood in the entryway of our home. I pulled the scarf around my hair to hide it. As one of the few blondes in Cairo, I was easy to spot. Most people in the city would likely already be asleep but just in case I didn't want to be spotted out with Ardeth in the middle of the night by someone who knew my parents. They would never let me leave the house again if they knew what I was doing.

Once I was positive that I had left no indication that I was awake and not in my room sleeping (if my parents woke up in the middle of the night), I snuck toward the front door and gently pushed it open. I slipped into the night air and closed the door behind me, locking it as softly as possible. I waited a moment to make sure my parents' bedroom light didn't come on before walking along the sidewalk toward the alley between mine and my neighbor's houses.

Despite the dark robes, I could see Ardeth in the shadows of the alley. "Hi," I greeted, walking up to him.

Ardeth straightened up. "Renata."

"Come with me," I said.

"Where are we going?"

"Do you trust me?"

Ardeth looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Yes."

"Then come with me," I goaded.

Ardeth smiled as I took his hand and lead him along the path. The alley was dark and difficult to navigate through for someone who didn't know it as well as I did. I smiled back at Ardeth as we walked, neither one of us releasing the other. I wasn't sure if he was still holding onto me because he really couldn't see where we were going or if it was because he just didn't want to let go. I had a sneaking suspicion that it was the former.

I led Ardeth to the back of the building where there was a large ladder that led to the roof. My neighbors and I shared the rooftop patio on top of the building, but no one used it. My mother was terrified of heights and our next-door neighbors were too old to climb the ladder anymore. Our families had agreed years ago that the rooftop patio could be a good place for me to relax and play. It had always been one of my favorite places in Cairo.  
We walked to the iron-rung ladder and I began climbing. Ardeth gave me a large birth to get up the ladder first. I smiled as I realized that he was doing so to avoid looking directly at my backside. I smiled as I climbed to the rooftop and walked into the center of the floor. The concrete was thick enough that my parents would never hear us talking or walking around. I hadn't been up on the rooftop much in longer than I would have liked to admit, but it looked the same as it did the last time.

There was an old red couch on one end of the roof (a donation from Alia) and a few smaller seats spread around a carpet. Most were from the previous tenants of our home. There were some of Alia's tapestries set up over the open air to keep the rain and elements away. It wasn't much of a space, but I had always loved coming out here when I couldn't sleep. Ardeth climbed over the edge of the rooftop and looked around in wonder.

"Is this yours?" Ardeth asked curiously.

"Yeah. We're supposed to share it with the neighbors but they're too old to get up the escape. My parents don't ever come up here, so I wouldn't worry. My mom's terrified of heights. She doesn't even like sleeping on the second floor," I explained.

"Will they hear us?"

"No. The concrete's too thick. It's just us."

Ardeth was silent for a while as he wandered around the rooftop. He gently ran his tattooed fingers along some of Alia's tapestries as he stared up at the moon. I watched Ardeth look around for a moment before wondering if maybe I had pushed him a little too far. We didn't know each other that well and I had invited him into a homey-feeling area while essentially telling him that he could stay with me tonight.

"You can sit, you know. You look so fidgety standing there," I teased.

Thankfully, Ardeth relaxed slightly at my teasing. He smiled as he took a seat in one of the chairs. I took the couch across from him. "Do you come up here often?" Ardeth asked.

"When I was a kid. I used to have a lot of problems sleeping so I would come up here to relax. I fell asleep out here a lot. My mom used to get so mad at me. She somehow thought I would roll off the roof," I said.

Ardeth laughed. "She sounds like my mother."

"Maybe they would get along."

"They may get along. Our fathers would be another story."

"As much as I love my father, I can't believe how stubborn he can be."

"If they could get over their prejudices, I believe our fathers would get along well," Ardeth said. I raised my eyebrows curiously. "My father is very much like yours."

"How so?" I asked.

"My father is a wonderful man but he doesn't care for the way that those outside of our tribe lives. He believes that our way of life is the sole correct way. He's a brilliant leader and cares very much for our people. Though it doesn't appear that way, he cares for everyone," Ardeth explained. "He wants people to have good lives but..."

"He doesn't understand that other people may have good - albeit different - ways to live," I filled in.

"Yes."

"Yeah, I know how you feel. My parents are wonderful but they've aged with the progression of society in both the United States and Cairo. Just because they're progressing with the times doesn't mean that people who still live the old ways are wrong," I said, hoping I wasn't offending him.

"You have been very surprising since we met, Renata," Ardeth said.

I smiled. "Is that a good thing?"

"That's a wonderful thing. I have never met someone like you. I doubt I will ever meet someone like you again."

"Maybe that's the reason you need to come back to Cairo."

It was strange to think that Ardeth would soon be leaving and I wouldn't be able to seek him out whenever I was bored. "It will be odd not being able to come and find you whenever I have the urge for an adventure," Ardeth said, echoing my thoughts.

"Can you write?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, there are no post offices near my tribe. If I were to wish to deliver a letter, I may as well come straight to Cairo," Ardeth explained.

I smiled playfully. "In that case, make sure to write letters often."

Ardeth smiled in response. "What will you do once I've returned to my tribe?"

"I'm not sure. I guess I'll have to go back to my normal life. You've been so much fun to have around and you've given me something to do with my days."

"What was your normal life like?"

"Repetitive," I said. Ardeth still looked like he wanted to know. "Lately my days haven't been that interesting. Are you that interested?"

Ardeth nodded. "Yes."

"Usually I wake up somewhere between eight and nine. I never completed formal education but I love learning, so most mornings I head downstairs and read while I eat breakfast. Most of the time I read about Ancient Egypt but I'll read books about any subject. Sometimes I'll even read a novel. Then I'll head to the market. Some days I head to the market to go shopping, other days I head out to hang out with Hakim, or I'll walk around and chat with the vendors.

"Most days of the week I like to go to the Museum of Antiquities and see Terence. I love harassing him," I continued. Ardeth laughed. "It's one of my favorite pastimes. Sometimes Terence will let me help and other times he yells at me to leave him alone; either way, I have a good time. After that, I'll usually head back home and have dinner with my family. Sometimes we'll sit around and listen to the radio and other times we'll do more research. As I said, it's not a very fascinating existence."

My face was warm with a blush. My life seemed so boring compared to how fascinating I was sure his was. "It sounds interesting to me," Ardeth said. When he spoke again, he had lowered his voice and even looked a bit ashamed in himself. "It is a bit humorous to see how red Terence can become."

I barked out a laugh. I wasn't expecting that. "That's my favorite game."

"He is perhaps the easiest person I have ever met to rile up," Ardeth said, making me laugh again. "Except for my father."

"Oh, I bet you my father could beat him."

"Perhaps whilst they were arguing we could have a moment to ourselves."

"Or they'd team up to kill us for disobeying them," I countered. We both laughed as I pulled my legs into my lap, crossing them. "Do I get to ask about your day now?"

"My day very much depends on circumstances," Ardeth said.

"Give me one example of a day," I prompted.

"My days usually begin before the sun rises," Ardeth began. I groaned as he laughed. I hated waking up early, especially not before the sun rose. "We eat breakfast around our campfires during the sunrise. Afterward, we break apart to perform our duties. I will normally head into the desert with the other men in my tribe and search the area for anything - survivors looking for civilization or grave-robbers. We've found both many times before.

"That takes up most of our days. Right now I am teaching my younger brothers the ways of our people the way my father taught me. As the sun begins to set we will head back to our tribe for dinner. We light the fires again and find ways to entertain ourselves. Sometimes we dance or sing; other days we tell stories. Unless I have a nighttime watch I will lay in my bed reading by the lantern light."

"What do you read?" I asked curiously.

"Whatever I can. I'll be taking some books from Terence at the end of my visit," Ardeth explained.

"Have you ever read 'Frankenstein'?"

Ardeth stared at me for a moment before shaking his head. "No." I wondered for a moment if Ardeth even knew what 'Frankenstein' was. "There are not many reading choices in my tribe. We read what is deemed relevant to our lives."

"That's no fun," I huffed.

"That is the way we live," Ardeth explained, a slightly sad note to his voice.

"Would you like to read it?" I offered.

Ardeth smiled. "Yes, I would."

All he had to do was make sure he didn't get caught by the members of his tribe. I smiled at Ardeth as I leaned under my seat and pulled out a box filled with books that I used to read when I came up here at night. I pulled out my tattered copy of 'Frankenstein' and handed it to Ardeth. "It's my favorite book. May it entertain you the way it always has for me," I told him.

"Thank you, Renata," Ardeth said, taking the book.

"You're welcome. I hope you like it," I said honestly.

"You truly are rubbing off on me," Ardeth said. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I have broken more of my tribe's rules over the last few days than I have in my entire life."

"I've got a knack for dragging other people into messes," I said. Ardeth smiled at me as we laughed. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not at all," Ardeth said. We smiled at each other again as the wind picked up. I shivered slightly, pulling my scarf off my hair and over my shoulders. "Are you cold?"

"A little bit," I admitted.

Ardeth stood from his chair and walked over to me, wrapping an arm over my shoulders as he sat at my side. "May I?" Ardeth asked, not quite touching me yet.

"Of course," I said.

It was a little surprising that Ardeth was willing to sit this close to me. I smiled at him though, as I leaned into Ardeth a little bit. His body stiffened against mine but he relaxed after a few moments. "You know, we never finished our game," Ardeth commented, breaking the peaceful silence.

"What?" I asked.

"You got the chance to ask me everything you wanted to know to get to know me," Ardeth said. I smiled, remembering that my father had pulled us apart before Ardeth had taken his turn. "We were interrupted before I got to take my turn."

"That's fair. Okay, go ahead."

"What is your birthday?" Ardeth asked.

"October 21st, 1900."

"Do you have a favorite food?"

"My mother makes the best fried chicken."

"Fried chicken?" Ardeth asked.

I laughed at the disgust in his voice. "It's an American thing."

"It sounds American. What is your most embarrassing memory?"

My face burned slightly with embarrassment. That was what I deserved for asking him the same question a few days ago. "I shouldn't have given you that idea," I mumbled.

Ardeth laughed. "You got your answer. It's my turn."

"When I was younger my parents wanted me to have something to do since I didn't speak Arabic yet and I couldn't enroll in a public school in Egypt. They pretty quickly learned that I loved performing; I still do. There's a local theater near here and I was cast as Juliet in 'Romeo and Juliet'. On the night of the first performance, I was more confident than I'd ever been. I knew my lines without fault. I got up in front of the audience and started speaking. Then I forgot my lines.

"I couldn't even remember my name, let alone what I was going to say next. There wasn't any flow in my head, and I didn't know what to do. I started breaking out in beads of sweat. They rolled down my forehead and pretty soon, it was like Niagara Falls. The dress I was wearing was soaking wet within two minutes. I tried to speak, but I couldn't, so I stood there like a stupid mute. The audience was looking at me and so was my co-star.

"We all stared at each other for far too long. You could hear a pin drop in the room. I turned and ran off the stage because I was so embarrassed but my foot got caught in the hem of my dress and I tripped and fell right off the end of the stage into the laps of a few men. My dress was torn up the back so I had to roll off of the men and lay on my back until my parents ran up to me with a coat to cover up. It was almost ten minutes that I was laying there while everyone stared at me," I explained bashfully

Ardeth was smiling into his lap as he held his lip in between his teeth. I knew he was trying hard not to laugh. "I'm not sure if I should laugh or tell you that I'm sorry," Ardeth said.

I laughed at the struggle in his voice. "You can laugh," I said. Ardeth let out a few soft chuckles. "It was a long time ago and I'm over it. I've never performed again after that, though."

"Never?" Ardeth asked, surprised.

"No, that was a little traumatizing," I said, making us both laugh. "I guess I'm not much of a performer anymore... unless you count singing in the bathtub."

"Would you sing now?"

"Uh, I'm not sure."

Even though I liked Ardeth, I didn't sing in front of people anymore. "What would it take to get you to sing?" Ardeth asked.

"A few beers," I said determinedly.

Ardeth laughed again. "May I guess that your biggest fear is public speaking?"

"It's not. I love public speaking and I love getting to know new people," I said. Ardeth hummed curiously. "Actually, my biggest fear is never living up to my parents' legacy."

Ardeth nodded understandingly. "I know how you feel."

"I know you do."

"Is there anywhere you would like to travel that you've never been to?"

"Greece. I love Ancient Greece."

"Really?"

"Yes. That's one place I would love to see and get the chance to explore while I still can."

Though I loved Ancient Egypt, I had a soft spot for Ancient Greece too. "What would you like to see?" Ardeth asked.

"Everything. I would be such a tourist but it could be fun to act as a tourist rather than a teacher for once. I could see the Acropolis and the Parthenon."

"You will have to go one day."

"As long as I don't have to go alone. I hate traveling alone. It's the loneliest way to travel," I said. Ardeth nodded his confirmation. "What do you think? Would you like to come to Greece with me?"

"If you're there, I will be too," Ardeth said. I smiled as I tried to fight back the blush that was forming on my cheeks. "Who means the most in the world to you?"

"My mother," I said. Ardeth smiled at the immediate answer. "She will do whatever it takes to care for and protect her family while also going after her dreams. She would never sacrifice them to fit into society's standards."

"What is your favorite hobby?"

"Bothering Terence."

That time we both laughed loudly. "Do you ever fear the way people look at you because you act in a way not expected of a young woman?" Ardeth asked.

"No," I said quickly. "They may think it's odd that I don't have a romantic partner or any prospects, but it's not my priority right now. There are so many other things I want to do with my life and, at the end of the day, they're not the ones who will be on my deathbed looking back on my life. That'll be me. I'm the one who has to look back and be happy with the way I spent my life. There's only one person in my life that I have to impress and that's me."

Ardeth hummed quietly as we sat in silence for a moment. I knew that it wasn't the way many people looked at their lives, but it was the way I did. "That's a very interesting point of view," Ardeth finally said.

"It's true, isn't it?" I asked.

"It is," Ardeth admitted. We sat in silence for another brief moment. "You said that you have no romantic prospects?"

My face flooded with color. "Okay, that kind of makes me sound like a loser," I said, laughing awkwardly. Ardeth joined me a moment later. "No, not at the moment. I usually scare off anyone my parents bring around."

Ardeth laughed again. "Would you like to get married?" he asked.

"Maybe one day. He just has to be okay with having a wife who's more successful than him," I said proudly.

"You would make any man a fine partner," Ardeth said kindly. I giggled like I hadn't done in years, pinching my arm to get me to stop laughing like a lovestruck moron. "You are not interested in your friend from the tapestry store?"

"No. I love Hakim but he's my friend and nothing more," I said.

"Is there anyone you are interested in pursuing a relationship with?" Ardeth asked.

You. "Not that I can think of. Not now, at least," I lied.

"Perhaps that will change one day," Ardeth said.

I smiled at him. "Maybe. Maybe it'll take the right person."

"Who could that be?"

"I'll tell you when I figure it out," I said.

We smiled at each other as we lounged on the couch. We chatted for what seemed to be about two hours. We mostly told each other stories of our youths and what we would have done differently given the chance. As much as I loved Egyptology and getting the chance to be an archaeologist, I would have liked to have the chance to have gotten a formal education, but that would have required me to be raised in the United States.

Ardeth talked about the interesting prospect of having a formal education. I had realized by now that he had never gotten the chance to go to school. I promised that when he came back to Cairo I would give him whatever books he wanted as I had a large collection he could borrow from. Some were educational and others were for entertainment. Ardeth admitted that he did enjoy reading as it wasn't something he got to do often.

As the night wore on, I found that I became more comfortable being close to Ardeth and he with me. Our bodies had completely relaxed into each other. Ardeth's arm rested far more confidently on my shoulder and I didn't worry about being too forward as I rested my head on his shoulder. It dawned on me that I had never been this comfortable around any man that wasn't Hakim and my comfort with him had taken years to build up.

We had been on the roof for about three hours when I yawned. "It is growing late," Ardeth commented.

"If we're being fair, it was already late when you came here," I pointed out tiredly.

"Shall I escort you back?" Ardeth offered.

At this point, I didn't even want to get off the couch. I was comfortable up here. "You could stay up here if you'd like. It's late and dark in the streets. It'll be hard to find your way back where you need to be. No one will come up tonight and the sun will wake us up long before anyone else wakes up," I offered.

The nighttime was making me a little bolder and far more carefree than I normally would have been. Ardeth shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "That wouldn't be appropriate," he said.

"That's my favorite way to act," I teased. To my surprise, Ardeth laughed. "I'm trouble. You've said that yourself. Come on, staying up here with me tonight doesn't sound like fun?"

"It sounds like a very nice night," Ardeth admitted after a moment of silence.

"It'll be a great night. I could use the company anyway," I goaded. Ardeth smiled at me, though I could see the conflict in his eyes. "You've followed the rules every day since you were born. Come on, Ardeth. Do something crazy for once!"

We remained in silence for a long time. I could see Ardeth weighing the pros and cons in his head. "The view is lovely," Ardeth admitted.

"You'll love the sunrise," I joked.

"You are a bad influence," Ardeth reasoned.

"Yeah," I agreed.

We smiled at each other as we began chatting quietly again. It turned out that Ardeth was very good at astronomy. He could point out the stars. He was showing me the constellations and the stories behind each one. I knew that I would never be able to find them again without his prodding, but I had a good time listening. It gave me a good excuse to be close to him as he leaned behind me, pointing to the stars. I drifted off in the middle of one of his stories about a high priest and an illicit affair.

What felt like mere minutes later, I shifted awake. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, indicating that it was very early in the morning. I glanced to my right and noticed that I was leaning against Ardeth's chest. His eyes were closed and his face was relaxed as he slept; he looked his age. I blushed and shifted off of his chest, waking him in the process. Ardeth bolted to attention but relaxed when he realized that it was just me moving around.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"My apologies," Ardeth said bashfully, moving to the other end of the couch. "I shouldn't have remained on the couch with you -"

"It's fine," I said, waving off his concern. "You make a good pillow."

Ardeth smiled. "I'm glad to be of service."

His voice was deep and gravelly with sleep. I smiled back at him as I realized that I had a blanket over me that wasn't there when I had fallen asleep. "I didn't fall asleep with this on, did I?" I asked.

"No, you just looked cold," Ardeth said. That was sweet. "If I've overstepped -"

"Please, stop apologizing," I interrupted. Ardeth's voice dropped off immediately. "It's sweet and thank you. I would tell you if there was an issue." We smiled at each other as I yawned. "I fell asleep on you, didn't I?"

Ardeth smiled as I pulled the blanket up a little higher on my chest so that I could cuddle into it. "You did, but it wasn't that fascinating of a story," he said.

"I'm sorry." Ardeth shook his head. "Would I be overstepping if I said that you were comfortable?"

"Not at all."

We smiled at each other for a moment before my grin faded. "You're leaving today, aren't you?" I asked.

A pregnant pause passed between us. "Yes," Ardeth admitted.

"When?"

"To return to my tribe on time, I must leave before the sun rises."

The sun would be up in under an hour. "You're leaving in a few minutes, then?" I asked knowingly.

"Unfortunately," Ardeth said sadly. We smiled at each other sadly as I pushed out of the chair and dropped my blanket on the couch. Ardeth followed me a moment later. We stood facing each other, each wearing a sad smile. "I have had a wonderful time getting to know you these past few days, Renata."

"So have I, Ardeth. These have probably been some of the most entertaining days of my life. I'm very glad to have met you," I said honestly.

"As am I. You have made the long journey to Cairo worth it."

"That's good to hear. I'm sorry you'll have a long and lonely trip back home."

"I have something to entertain myself with."

Ardeth held up my copy of 'Frankenstein,' making me smile. "You'll have to come back and tell me how you like it," I said. 

"Of course."

As much as I would have loved for him to stay and chat for another few hours, I knew that Ardeth needed to leave. According to him, it was a long trip back to his tribe. I motioned to the ladder. "Shall we?" I asked.

"It is time," Ardeth said regretfully.

We exchanged another pitiful smile as we headed to the ladder. Ardeth motioned for me to go first and I smiled as we took to the ladder, slowly climbing back to the alley. I hit the dirt ground and stepped back as I watched Ardeth climb down. He moved along the rungs faster than I was expecting. I didn't know how he could be so alert before the sun even rose over the horizon. Ardeth hit the ground a moment later and turned to stand facing me.

The sun had begun to rise and glitter against Ardeth's dark eyes. "So, I guess this is goodbye," I muttered dumbly.

"For now," Ardeth said. I raised an eyebrow at his statement. "I will return."

"Really?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"I thought your people didn't travel to Cairo that often."

"I've never had a reason to come to Cairo. Now I believe I do," Ardeth said carefully.

"Good. When will you return?" I asked.

"I do not know."

"I was afraid of that."

It was going to be so boring getting used to not having Ardeth around again. "But you have my word, Renata, that I will come to you first," Ardeth promised.

"I'll hold you up to that," I said seriously.

Ardeth smiled as he took my hands in his. His hands were rough and large - they were the hands of a warrior. My heart fluttered pathetically as Ardeth leaned down to my level and pressed a kiss against my cheek. I wasn't expecting the action, but I wasn't going to say anything against it. I was hoping he would make the forward move. I smiled at Ardeth as he backed away, letting him know that I wasn't bothered by the forward departure.

"I'll see you... someday," I said sadly.

Ardeth tightened his grip on my hands for a moment. "Someday," he agreed.

I smiled at Ardeth as he pressed another kiss against my cheek. I thought about the many things I wanted to say to him as I watched him walk out of the alley. I wanted to ask him to come back. I wanted to ask him to stay with me. I wanted to ask him so many things about who he was and what his life was like. I wanted to tell him about my budding crush on him. But I said nothing, instead, smiling at him as he walked out of the alley and back to his normal life.

As we walked back to our respective lives, we turned back to face each other for just a moment. Ardeth was heading downtown and I was near my front door. He must have known that I was looking at him because he turned back to face me. We exchanged a smile as Ardeth raised his hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss against his fingers and raising them to his forehead - a departing gesture in his tribe, I was positive. I smiled and waved back at him, grabbing the newspaper before walking inside.

I jumped as I closed the front door behind me and immediately spotted my mother standing there. "Oh, good morning," Mom greeted, looking shocked to see me. "I wasn't expecting you to be awake this early."

"Um, I couldn't sleep," I said awkwardly.

"I see. Were you out?" Mom asked curiously.

"Yeah, I went out to grab the paper. Here you go," I said, handing it over.

"Thank you, love."

"You're welcome."

I walked past my mother to head back to my room and wash off. "Are you okay?" Mom asked.

"What?"

"You look a little flushed."

"I'm fine. It's just hot outside," I said awkwardly.

"Okay. Get washed off and come downstairs for breakfast," Mom said.

"Sure."

As soon as I could get my damn blush to go away. I smiled at my mother and headed upstairs to get ready for the day. As much as I wanted to sit upstairs and daydream about Ardeth, I knew that I was going to have to get back to normal. Even if I saw Ardeth again one day, it was likely going to be a long time from now. That didn't stop me from looking out my bedroom window to see Ardeth walking alone through the marketplace. Someday...

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who would like to keep closer tabs on my stories, I have a Twitter account set up so I can stay in touch with my readers and keep you all up to date on when you can expect new updates. Here's the link! twitter.com/walkerlifeforme


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